UNDERTALE: Purity not found (PureTale x RenewTale)
by swrWriter
Summary: Gaster, in his haste to discover the origin of a powerful Soul, accidentally sends himself and others to a unique, alternate timeline. This place is weird: There's no Underground and there was no War. Stranded and separated, the PureTale crew soon encounter Lynn and the RenewTale crew[UNDERTALE: (file name not found)]. What happens when Anomalies meet? {Crossover with R.I.P. Lynn}
1. What could possibly go wrong?

**Remember: Spoilers for Undertale, my story, and R.I.P Lynn's are contained within this story. **

**If you'd rather not be spoiled in any of those three ways, please stop now and go read the other stories or play the game. (It's worth it!)**

 **If you need another reminder/overview of either of our stories, please go back to chapter one or two to check them out.**

 **Thanks again to R.I.P. Lynn for making this possible.**

 **Now, time to check on everyone!**

* * *

 ** _Warning: If you have not read 'UNDERTALE: (file name not found)', PureTale/Purity, or played Undertale, there WILL be spoilers for each of them. Undertale is owned by Toby Fox. 'UNDERTALE: (file name not found) is owned/created by R.I.P. Lynn. I, myself, only own/have created the O/Cs and personalities of the PureTale timeline. Enjoy!_**

 ** _I have been given express permission to use her work and to write this Cross-Over. Thank you R.I.P. Lynn!_**

 ** _Quick Note: Never read Puretale/Purity, but simply want to read this? Or maybe, you need a quick refresher course? Either way, here's a quick summary of PureTale/Purity before we start the story. Shout-out to R.I.P. Lynn, who was the masterful author/writer who created 'UNDERTALE: (file name not found)'. Please, if you have not, go read her work of art! I hope I do it Justice..._**

 ** _Previously on PureTale/Purity:_**

 _In the PureTale Timeline… Frisk completed a Neutral Run(No RESETs) without killing anyone, except for Asgore's death from Flowey. Before a RESET could happen, Gaster kidnapped Frisk and took the six Souls in a bid to take control of the Timeline. You see, he could see beyond his timeline, and grew fearful of other 'beings' and 'entities' who might come to this timeline and destroy it._

 _Six months later, Alex fell into the Underground, looking for his best and only friend: Frisk. He had a silver Soul of 'Purity', which had the unique ability to 'Purify' Souls, which returned them to their purest states and traits, removing things that don't belong. It also had the ability to take on other traits when exposed to enough of them. During the journey, he met and befriended all of the Monsters, starting with Sans' rescue from a very angry Flowey, before soon coming up with a plan to rescue Frisk from Gaster and the Void._

 _After traveling and gathering the needed supplies from around the Underground, Sans and Alex worked together to repair his machine despite all of Gaster's numerous attempts to stop them. Soon, they finished and rescued Frisk from the Void, but, doing so, they ended up bringing Gaster back too. After defeating him by turning the six Souls against him they forgave Gaster, before Frisk undid the previous six months with a LOAD in order to get a True Pacifist Ending and undo Asgore's death. Alex, because of the power of his Soul, remembered the previous timeline and left for Ebott immediately._

 _Back Underground, they brought Gaster back again using Sans' machine, before then restoring everyone's memories and traveling to Asgore's Castle. Flowey soon came forward, taking the Souls, and turning into the 'god of hyperdeath'. After defeating Asriel and breaking the barrier, the Journey concluded with Gaster gathering enough essence from the Void to either bring Asriel's Soul back or restore Chara's body and Soul. Both begged for Alex to chose the other, but he ultimately decided to save Asriel since Chara still had some part of her Soul within Frisk. All together, the monsters went out onto the surface and the Dreemurrs reunited and adopted Frisk and Alex.  
_

 _Fast forward several months and Monster integration is going pretty well as school began to start up. Gaster soon created the QMA(Quantum Multiversal Accelerator) Prototype and gained access to a small portion of the Multiverse. With access to alternate timelines, he soon found his first alternate timeline. Here, a genocide was occurring, and that timeline's Gaster made a deal with him: If Alex came and stopped it, then he'd donate enough essence to bring back Chara for them. Eventually, Alex succeeded and the Dreemurr family was finally fully reunited. Another product from this encounter also provided a new ally in the form of Rindie, a power entity with a drive to do good. But, at the same time, Core Frisk wasn't very pleased with Gaster.  
_

 _The timeline jumps soon caused new issues, though. An error with the QMA fractured the vortex as it expanded, sending some of them to Underswap and some of them to Underfell. It was here that Alex soon learned the dangers of his powerful Soul. While battling to save his friends in Underfell, he gave into a small amount of Hate and his Soul turned black. You see, another ability of Alex's Soul is that if he feels a strong enough emotion, or is injected with a concentrated dose of a particular trait, his Soul will temporarily take on that trait... except in a more powerful, more 'pure' state. As such, he was consumed with 'Pure Hatred' until he eventually snapped out of it. From this point on, he became terrified of giving into these traits and hurting those he loved._

 _After many other misadventures with the QMA, including accidentally letting Betty(FEAR) into their timeline, the fight for their timeline quickly grew more intense. After stopping Error Sans from destroying them and gaining a new ally named Alric, they soon fought this 'Entity', who's ultimate goal was to take control of the Timeline and shape it in the way he thought it was always meant to be. Up his sleeve was another unique trait: Creativity. With it, the one with the most could shape the timeline as they saw fit. In other words, "become god of the timeline", making it his own. Eventually, after teaming up with Jordan Sower, the other person with Creativity(aka swrWriter), they managed to stop the Entity, strip him of his creativity, and then destroy him.  
_

 _By the end of it, everything was calm again and things were looking up. Thanks to the QMA, Gaster continued his research and soon gained help from Core Frisk and a few others, who showed him the true size of the multiverse. With this knowledge he soon discovered a way to upgrade the QMA to be able to connect to the rest of it and perfect his technology…_

 _Together with Sans and Alphys, the three of them soon got to work, despite the numerous warnings from Core, and it was nearly complete...  
_

 _And now, today, the newly upgraded QMA is being booted up… I wonder which timeline they'll find?!_

* * *

 **Chapter One:** What could possibly go wrong?

The work-spaces and tabletops around Gaster's lab were covered in various books, devices, and chemicals. The scientists, here, have been working tirelessly for weeks on their masterpiece, the second greatest invention by Monsterkind (The first being the Core). They call it the QMA, which stands for the Quantum Multiversal Accelerator. With this device, Gaster has successfully connected to and discovered countless timelines and alternate universes.

Doctor Gaster stood before his two assistants as he prepared to boot back up the QMA, wearing his normal outfit. He wore a black turtleneck and a black pair of dress pants and shoes, while wearing his standard white lab coat over his normal clothes. Sans and Alphys sat at their respective seats and looked directly at the doctor. Sans wore a usual lazy outfit under his lab coat, consisting of his signature blue coat, a pair of black basketball shorts, and a pair of shoes. Alphys wore a skirt and top underneath her own lab coat, but the coat covered her clothes completely.

Gaster smiled as he looked at his two assistants, **_"ALRIGHT, IT IS TIME…"_** He nodded at Alphys, ** _"DOCTOR ALPHYS, IF YOU'D BE SO KIND."_**

"O-of course." She stuttered, quickly turning to her keyboard and typing various commands into her console. They could hear the nearby device turning on. It was a large, octagonal frame, with the individual joints displaying a Soul-like heart on it. It looked very similar to the 'portal frames' you'd see in movies. There was a large cable connected to the bottom of the QMA, which led directly to the Core, which provided the power required to punch through the barrier between timelines and universes.

 _"what do ya need from me, dad?"_ Sans asked, staring at Gaster, ready to do whatever was necessary.

Gaster nodded, **_"MONITOR THE READINGS, SANS. I WANT TO KNOW THE MOMENT ANYTHING GOES WRONG."_**

 _"you got it g."_ Sans replied, turning back to his monitor to keep track of the data. Various charts and numbers began appearing and shifting on the screen as the machine began to come to life.

 ** _"SANS, TIMELINE STABILITY?"_**

 _"it's at a hundred percent still."_

 ** _"PERFECT."_** He replied, **_"DOCTOR ALPHYS, STATUS?"_**

Alphys turned toward Gaster, "Core energy flow i-is normal. Startup in th-three, two, o-one."

On cue, the QMA began to buzz and vibrate, making all three of their heads turn toward the device. All eight heart symbols on the joints lit up and began to emit a white light, just as a black vortex opens within the frame. After a few moments, the device stabilized and stopped shaking, telling the three of them that it was successfully reactivated.

The three monsters couldn't help themselves and let out a cheer at their success. Gaster smiled proudly. This reminded him of the first time he activated the QMA. Only this time… this time it was greatly upgraded. Thanks to various bits of information from Core Frisk, Jordan Sower, and a few other individuals, he'd discovered a way to increase the QMA's range, allowing access to the entire multiverse. Or, at least, in theory.

Now he'd be able to discover and connect to timelines that he'd never even thought were possible. Imagine it… Countless unknown Soul Traits. Countless timelines with alternate histories, doppelgangers, and stories. Any and every alternative to things he's discovered were now waiting for him. Quite frankly, Gaster felt like a kid in a candy store. A kid who could pick out any and everything he could ever want. To say he was excited would be an understatement.

Alphys turned to Gaster with a wide smile, "S-so what's next Doctor?" She said, excited about the possibilities and discoveries too.

Sans comically raised his hand, as if he were a student waiting to be called upon by the teacher. Gaster looked at Sans and motioned for him to speak, _"i vote for a break."_

Doctor Gaster chuckled and shook his head, having expected something like that to come out of his son's mouth. Finally, after a moment, he shrugged, **_"ALRIGHT, BREAK TIME… IN A MOMENT. SANS, FINISH SETTING UP THE ALGORITHM. I WANT THE QMA TO SEARCH FOR SOUL ANOMALIES, FOCUSING ON THE MOST UNUSUAL OR POWERFUL."_** He paused for a moment before smiling, _" **THEN,**_ ** _WE CAN TAKE A BREAK."_**

Sans turned back around toward his monitor and quickly typed a few commands into the device, _"done, and done. break time."_ And with that, Sans vanished, likely disappearing to the break-room's couch to enjoy another nap. But… he did earn it. They all did after all of that hard work. Now they all had to wait until the QMA finds a timeline of interest, and Gaster could hardly wait.

* * *

Gaster took a sip out of his Father's Day mug, allowing the delectable taste of coffee flow into him. The black mug read '#1 Dadster', a gift from Sans and Papyrus. He smiled as he continued to drink his coffee in the relaxing environment of the break-room. Sans, like usual, was napping on the comfortable, black couch in the corner, while Alphys sat at a nearby table and enjoyed a sickly, yellow soda of her own.

It's been about half an hour since the QMA was reactivated and there haven't been too may results so far. Sure, there were a few timelines that had unique energy signatures, including one that looking similar to this 'Underswap' timeline, but more like the signals were swapped around in pairs. Unfortunately, other than that, not many new, exciting timelines have been discovered. That timeline could wait. Gaster wanted to start at the top, then work his way down from there.

Gaster looked up and pulled out his pocket watch. 12:05 pm. Papyrus would be by with the kids soon enough since they had an early day at school, and both Toriel and Asgore were busy this afternoon with meetings, so the skeletons had been tasked with watching them, not that it was that big of a deal. He really hoped some sort of profound discovery would be made before they arrived so he might show them his progress, but he wasn't too sure that would happen.

As Gaster downed the last of his coffee, a beeping sound echoed throughout the lab. It wasn't an alarm, thank God, it was Sans' algorithm signaling a successful find. Gaster grinned as he put his empty mug down on the counter softly and turned toward Sans and Alphys.

Alphys hopped down from her seat and Sans was already standing beside Alphys, spooking her from his sudden appearance. She jumped a bit, causing Sans to chuckle.

"Could y-you maybe not?" She said, narrowing her eyes at the pranking skeleton.

Sans shrugged, _"c'mon doc, you should be used to it by now."_

She frowned and shook her head, "I'll never get used to you breaking the laws of physics."

Sans grinned, _"guess you can't physically wrap you head around this then."_

Gaster, despite his excitement, chuckled, **_"ALRIGHT YOU TWO, YOU HEARD THE MACHINE. LET'S GO."_**

They all proceeded back to their work stations and began pulling up the data being gathered from this timeline in particular. Gaster was beaming. There must have been some amazing, profound reason why this timeline was singled out! Then, Gaster started looking at the data.

Base readings of the timeline suggested that it was similar to many other timelines, including a few others that Gaster had found earlier. That means that there were no massive swaps or changes to that universe at conception. But, after looking at it a bit more, he saw some very odd data points. There was a unique, never before seen Soul Trait in this multiverse. In fact, this Soul Trait might be exclusive to this single timeline and maybe a few other branching ones.

 ** _"DOCTOR ALPHYS, FOCUS THE SCANNER ON DATA_** **POINT _2390131_** ** _."_** Gaster called out. **_"SANS, FOCUS ON DATA POINT 11796565."_**

Alphys nodded and did her best to amplify the signal and clear up any issues for that particular data point, as Sans did the same on his screen. Soon enough, more data was shown on the monitors about those specific data points.

 _"hey doc, what're we looking at here?"_ Sans asked, having just finished focusing his scanner.

Gaster smiled as he examined the data, speaking without looking away, **_"THIS, SANS, IS THE SIGNAL FROM THE TIMELINE."_** He was pointing toward Alphys' data, before then pointing at Sans', **_"AND THIS IS THE SIGNAL FROM THE SOUL TRAIT."_**

He leaned forward and focused on Alphys' data first, **_"DO YOU SEE THIS MASSIVE JUMP?"_** He said, motioning toward the generated graph, which shows a massive change and a few smaller ones, **_"THESE ARE ALTERATIONS TO THE TIMELINE, ITSELF. THIS MEANS IT HAS UNDERGONE MASSIVE CHANGES, MAKING IT FAR DIFFERENT THAN IT ORIGINALLY WAS."_**

Gaster minimized the graph and pulled up San's data on the Soul Trait, **_"AND LIKEWISE, THE SOUL IN QUESTION HAS RELEASED LARGE AMOUNTS OF POWER OVER THE COURSE OF THE TIMELINE'S HISTORY, MAKING IT ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL SOULS I'VE EVER SEEN."_**

Then, Gaster pulled both graphs up and overlaid them with one-another. The points in which the Soul released the most energy and the points in which the Timeline changed were all overlapped, **_"AND TOGETHER, THE SOUL'S POWER AND THE TIMELINE'S COURSE WERE CHANGED TOGETHER, MEANING ONE OF TWO THINGS. EITHER THE SOUL IS BOUND TO THE TIMELINE DIRECTLY, OR THIS SOUL IS POWERFUL ENOUGH TO ALTER THE TIMELINE."_**

Sans looked at Gaster questionably, _"like determination? or creativity? we've seen the effects of them before on the timeline, but…"_

Gaster nodded, **_"YES. IT SEEMS THAT IF IT IS ALTERING THE TIMELINE, WHICH IS MORE LIKELY THAN THE FIRST OPTION, THAN IT IS BOTH MORE POWERFUL THAN AND FAR DIFFERENT FROM DETERMINATION. POSSIBLY EVEN EXCEEDING CREATIVITY."_**

"B-but h-how?!" Alphys asked, shocked by this information, "D-determination is the only thing that can radically change the t-timeline, and all i-it does is rewind t-time?"

Sans narrowed his sockets as he looked at the data, himself, _"hmm, it seems that the timeline didn't just rewind… it was completely altered. it's almost as if the change was so massive that every single event was changed simultaneously."_

"Th-that'd take a l-lot of power to do that."

Gaster nodded, **_"YES…"_** He paused and turned around, looking at his two partners, **_"THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT WE'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR. A SOUL MORE POWERFUL THAN DETERMINATION. STRONGER THAN CREATIVITY. MORE ADAPTIVE THAN PURITY. MORE TERRIFYING THAN FEAR."_** Gaster smiled widely, excited by this discovery. **_"SANS… PREPARE TIMELINE CONNECTION."_**

Sans flinched a bit at this, _"g-gaster… not that i'm not excited about this too, but i don't think that's a good idea."_ Gaster turned and faced Sans, listening carefully, _"i mean, we haven't even tested the timeline connections with the qma since we upgraded it. we should probably give it more time."_

Gaster frowned and shook his head, **_"AS MUCH AS I UNDERSTAND SANS, THAT'S SIMPLY NOT AN OPTION. WHAT IF ANOTHER SPIKE FROM THAT SOUL PREVENTS ANY FURTHER CONNECTION? WHAT IF THAT SOUL CHANGES THE TIMELINE AGAIN? WE MUST CONNECT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE…"_** Gaster paused and sighed, **_"BUT WE WILL NOT GO IN JUST YET. WE WILL AT LEAST WAIT TO MAKE SURE THE CONNECTION IS STABLE AND SAFE."_**

Sans nodded, _"alright, guess that's better than nothin'."_ Sans typed in a few commands and the QMA began to connect to this new timeline. The white hearts in the joints soon all changed to different colors and the vortex, itself, began a kaleidoscope of colors, signaling the connection.

 ** _"PERFECT. RUN DIAGNOSTICS. I WANT TO KNOW HOW STABLE THE CONNECTION IS, HOW THICK THE SPACE-TIME FABRIC IS HERE, AND ANY OTHER RELEVANT DATA."_** Gaster commanded, prompting Sans and Alphys to set up a few other things.

Finally, a moment later, the door to the lab opened and four others came into the lab. "-AND THAT IS HOW WE LEARNED THAT COOKING WITH FLAMETHROWERS WAS NOT A VERY VALID METHOD TO COOKING PASTA." Papyrus explained as he walked in with three humans. Papyrus wore his orange and white battle-body, like normal, as he led them into the main lab. "OH, HELLO DAD. HELLO SANS. HELLO DOCTOR ALPHYS."

Gaster turned and smiled warmly, **_"AHH, HELLO PAPYRUS, HOW'S YOU'RE DAY BEEN?"_**

Papyrus beamed, "IT'S BEEN EXCELLENT. UNDYNE AND I TRIED COOKING SPAGHETTI WITH FLAMETHROWERS THIS MORNING, AND THEN I WENT TO PICK UP THE CHILDREN FROM SCHOOL."

Alphys' face paled as she turned to look at Papyrus, "P-p-papyrus… wh-where'd you do th-that?"

Papyrus continued to smile, "NOT TO WORRY DOCTOR, WE MADE SURE TO DO IT IN THE SAFETY OF YOUR BACK YARD. NOTHING WAS DAMAGED EXCEPT FOR YOUR BACK FENCE AND YOUR GRASS. BUT IT CERTAINLY WASN'T FROM THE STREAM OF FLAMES WE USED FOR OUR COOKING SESSION!"

Alphys sighed but was at least partially relieved. Luckily, it sounds like the house, itself, was still in one piece. "O-ok…" She said as she resumed her work.

"Hey Doctor Gaster!" Frisk said enthusiastically, wearing her favorite blue and purple sweater, while Alex simply smiled and waved, too caught up in the music he was listening to on his phone. Chara swiped once and disconnected Alex's earbuds from his phone, making him frown.

"What the heck was that for, Chara?" Alex asked, putting his earbuds and phone away. He wore a pair of blue jeans and a red t-shirt.

Chara shrugged, "Because you should stop listening to that trash, you're with your girlfriend, after all. Doesn't she deserve your undivided attention?" She teased. She wore her classic green and yellow striped sweater with a green shirt underneath and a pair of brown pants. Alex blushed a bit, but felt Frisk squeeze his hand a bit to comfort him, making him smile.

 _"sup kiddos, where's the goat?"_ Sans said with a smile.

Chara snickered a bit, "Azzy didn't do very good on his last English test, so Mom is making him go to tutoring this afternoon."

Frisk frowned and scowled at Chara, "That's because SOMEONE decided to give him the wrong stuff to read and study."

Chara put up her arms in defense, "Hey, it's not my fault he fell for it so badly. He should have realized that 'stupid' was too simple of a vocabulary word."

Sans chuckled a bit, _"hehe, yeah but i'm pretty sure tori's gonna find out real quick what happened."_

Chara shrugged, "I'll cross that bridge when I get there."

"Hey Gaster, what's going on in here? You doing more work with the QMA?" Alex asked, taking a few steps forward, taking Frisk with him.

Gaster smiled and nodded, **_"YES, THANKS TO RECENT ADVANCES, WE'VE FOUND MORE TIMELINES THAN WE ORIGINALLY ANTICIPATED."_**

 _"yeah, we just found one that probably has the most powerful soul ever."_ Sans supplied, smiling at them from the work bench as he said that as nonchalantly as possible.

"Woah! Really? That's so cool." Alex said, staring at the swriling vortex within the QMA.

Chara crossed her arms, "I hate to be the one that sounds like Core Frisk, but is this really a good idea?" She asked, staring at the swirling vortex within the QMA.

Frisk turned away from the vortex and looked over at Chara, "What do you mean?"

Chara rolled her eyes. "What do I mean? Newsflash Frisk and Gaster, that device hasn't exactly been beneficial to us. Let's see… it sent Alex into a genocide, all of us into Underswap and Underfell, it gave us Betty and the Soul of Fear, and it let Error Sans in here. If anything, we should just turn it off and destroy it."

Gaster frowned for a moment before chuckling for a second, **_"NEWSFLASH CHARA, YOUR GIRLFRIEND WOULDN'T EXIST IF IT WEREN'T FOR THIS. IN FACT, YOU'D STILL BE A GHOST IN FRISK'S HEAD IF THIS MACHINE NEVER EXISTED. LOST OF GOOD HAS COME FROM THIS. YES, SURE, THERE'S BEEN SOME ROAD BUMPS ALONG THE WAY, BUT SO MUCH GOOD HAS COME FROM IT TOO."_** Gaster countered.

Chara blushed and looked away, "Y-yeah… I guess you're right about that…"

Frisk snickered at Chara's blush, quickly earning a hard stomp to her foot. "Ouch!" Frisk complained, making Chara snicker back.

"Well, that's what you get Frisk!" She said, crossing her arms and looking away.

Alex comforted Frisk by pulling her into a light hug and smiled at Chara, "Yeah Chara. What could possibly go wrong?!"

She narrowed her eyes and turned back toward Alex, "I hate you Alex." Alex couldn't help but snicker at that as she continued, "Of course, you had to go and say that, didn't you?!"

Alex chuckled and smiled, "Thanks Chara, and yeah, I kinda did need to say that."

Sans turned around toward Gaster, _"hey g, we got a problem."_

Gaster quickly turned around and walking over to Sans and his monitor, **_"WHAT IS IT?"_**

Sans pointed to the stability readings on his screen, _"the connection between this new timeline and ours is strained. the barrier around their universe is fluctuating too rapidly, warping the connection. stability is plummeting."_

Gaster sadly nodded, **_"ALRIGHT, COMMENCE SHUTDOWN PROTOCOL."_**

Sans nodded and began to power down the QMA, cutting off the power supply from the Core. But… for some reason, the QMA remained active despite the lack of power maintaining it. _"u-uh… dad…"_ Sans muttered as the QMA began to shake, starting off slowly but quickly increasing in intensity.

Gaster turned to Alphys, tone becoming urgent, **_"ALPHYS, TRY TO OVERRIDE THE QMA. SANS. PAPYRUS. HELP ME HOLD THE QMA TOGETHER!"_**

Alphys began typing ferociously as the three skeletons used their blue magic to hold the QMA together and as still as possible. Alex, too, jumped into action as he pressed a blue button on his bracelet. As soon as he did, the blue liquid within it drained into Alex, turning his Soul a vibrant blue color. He was filled with Pure Integrity.

Using his new blue magic, Alex joined in to help the skeletons hold it together. Frisk and Chara too, despite their lack of blue magic, joined in my forming magical constructs to try to physically restrain the device.

Unfortunately, despite the six-people trying to hold the QMA together, the joints could no longer take the strain and they disconnected from one another as the QMA collapsed. Even worse, the vortex remained behind despite the QMA breaking apart.

 ** _"DAMMIT. ALPHYS, PUT UP THE MAGICAL INHIBITORS! WE NEED THIS VORTEX CLOSED!"_** Gaster commanded as said vortex began to osculate and fluctuate, increasing in size.

"D-doctor, they're almost online." Alphys muttered, before the magical inhibitors turned on successfully. "They're o-online."

Suddenly, the vortex exploded, increasing in size greatly and swallowing the three humans and the three skeletons, before collapsing in on itself. The remaining monster in the lab flew backwards, off of her chair and against the wall. She soon fell to the tiled floor unconscious.

* * *

The dinosaur-like monster laid like that for over an hour, before she was found like that by Undyne. She wore a pair of black combat boots, a pair of dark blue jeans, and a black tank top, all covered in soot from her and Papyrus' misadventures in cooking earlier that day. Alphys' girlfriend came over and tried waking her up, running to her side immediately upon noticing the destruction within the lab.

"A-Alphys?! Say something, please!" She said, gently holding her sleeping form, only relaxing slightly when she felt her breathing. "What… what happened here?" Undyne wondered aloud as she looked around, seeing that the QMA was shattered into millions of pieces. She looked around her, trying to see if there were any other survivors. Luckily, no specks of dust nor drops of blood were found. Unfortunately, there was only one conclusion to be drawn by this scene…

Gaster… Sans… Papyrus… the kids… they had all must have been sent to another Timeline…

And as much as Undyne wanted to say they'd be ok, she didn't know much about all of this timeline nonsense other than her experience with a more-red doppelgänger who was out for blood. And based on the scene around the lab… this wouldn't be an easy fix…

She just hoped that wherever they ended up, that they'd be ok…


	2. Mistaken Identity

**Remember: Spoilers for Undertale, my story, and R.I.P Lynn's are contained within this story. **

**If you'd rather not be spoiled in any of those three ways, please stop now and go read the other stories or play the game. (It's worth it!)**

 **If you need another reminder/overview of either of our stories, please go back to chapter one or two to check them out.**

 **Thanks again to R.I.P. Lynn for making this possible.**

 **Now, time to check on everyone!**

* * *

 ** _Previously on_** _UNDERTALE: (file name not found)_ _ **:**_

 _Frisk had been taking advantage of her RESET ability, playing with the Timeline like it were a toy for her amusement. One day, however, the timeline glitched… had a hiccup, if you will. An anomaly, Lynsie, was the result of this._

 _She lived away from the general human populace, choosing to live a mostly self-sustainable life on Mount Ebott. Her living: rare crystals found on the Mountain. Finding one of particular beauty, she approached the infamous hole and accidentally fell in, landing in the Underground._

 _Here in the Ruins, Flowey soon gave her the 'Kill or be Killed' speech, before being saved by Toriel. Quickly growing attached, she stayed with Toriel, became like a daughter to the ex-Queen, and befriended the monsters in the Ruins._

 _Unlike Frisk, she didn't want to leave and the whole timeline struggled to keep up with the anomaly as everything was done out of order and differently._

 _She left the Ruins with her mama's permission, befriended the skeletons, and soon met their brother Gaster in her dreams. Rather than Waterfall next, she was lured to Hotlands to join in Mettaton's games as he tried to woo her, before returning back through waterfall and meeting Undyne, who wasn't overly hostile thanks to a deal with the skelebros._

 _Soon, feelings began to blossom between herself the two skeletons, each of them falling in love with Lynn as she struggled to understand her own feelings. As time went by, the entire world was beginning to differ from its normal ways as she began trying to set everything right._

 _Soon enough, she discovered the true power of her anomalous Soul, which seemed to change colors and traits depending on her mood. Her 'Anomaly State' gave her an insane degree of control over the 'code' of the world and timeline, granting her many abilities, like taking apart the amalgamates and returning them to their former, individual glory._

 _However, it never was the most dependable or controllable thing. Often times, other things had to trigger its activation, and she never had the time to master its use. Eventually, she even pieced Gaster back together, returning him to the plain of existence._

 _The whole world begins to climax as Flowey makes his move for the Souls and tricks Lynsie into saying the demon's name: Chara. Doing so unleashed Chara and gave him control of her as they struggled over her Soul. After saving Chara, she came back to deal with Flowey, who soon had both the human Souls and her friends, before soon trying to take hers._

 _Upon stopping him by killing herself, she meets Frisk, who plans on coming back and taking control of the SAVE file and destroying the Anomaly. Frisk sees the world as nothing more than a video game, and Lynsie as little more than an NPC with a decent AI. After reasoning fails, Lynsie takes complete control of the Save file, stopping Frisk._

 _Back to the realm of the living, Lynsie faces off against Flowey once more, before he changes to his true form: Asriel Dreemurr. After getting through to him, they work together and fuse, using the Anomaly State to cause not a RESET nor a LOAD, but a 'Complete Restoration'. The whole world restarts._

 _Now, the timeline was new, completely changed. Here, the war between Humans and Monsters never broke out. The world was in a much better state than before as Lynsie was now a part of the Royal Dreemurr family, alongside with Chara and Asriel as her brothers. She had Sans and Papyrus with her still, as her protectors(and lovers). Her Anomaly State, with no further reason to exist, disappears, as the world looks much brighter. Even Frisk was doing much better, no longer posing any sort of threat and getting along just fine._

 _Nothing could mess this up… Or, at least, nothing did… until one fateful day when Gaster's old timeline monitoring software picked up a weird anomaly…_

* * *

 **Chapter Two:** Mistaken Identity

 **TIMELINE ANOMALY DETECTED.**

 **TIMELINE FLUCTUATION IN PROGRESS…**

 **FLUCTUATION ENDED.**

 **SCANNING FOR ORIGIN OF TIMELINE ANOMALY.**

 **ORIGIN OF TIMELINE ANOMALY: UNKNOWN.**

 **SEARCHING FOR LOCATIONS OF TIMELINE BREACH…**

 **ERROR: BREACH LOCATIONS CORRUPT.**

 **REASON: TIMELINE DETECTION SOFTWARE HAS BEEN DEEMED 'OUT OF DATE'.**

 **SENDING ALERT MESSAGE TO DOCTOR…**

 **MESSAGE SENT SUCCESSFULLY.**

 **MESSAGE: TIMELINE BREACH HAS BEEN DETECTED AT APPROXIMATELY 13:50. A TOTAL OF SIX TIMELINE BREACHES HAVE BEEN DETECTED OVER THE COURSE OF APPROXIMATELY 2.038 NANOSECONDS. DATA OF BREACH LOCATIONS IS CORRUPT: LOCATIONS UNKNOWN. ORIGIN OF ANOMALY: UNKNOWN. ADVISE CAUTION.**

 **ERROR. SYSTEM REBOOTING…**

 **SYSTEM REBOOTING…**

 **SYSTEM REBOOTING…**

 **REBOOT SUCCESSFUL.**

 **LOCATION OF SINGLE BREACH VERIFIED.**

 **LOCATION OF BREACH: MT EBOTT.**

 **SENDING ALERT TO DOCTOR GASTER: SYSTEM IN NEED OF DIAGNOSTICS CHECK, REPAIRS, AND UPDATE…**

 **TIME SINCE LAST DIAGNOSTICS CHECK: MORE THAN A YEAR**

* * *

Gaster woke up with a decently painful headache. He held his skull in both of his hands as he sat up, wherever he was. He opened his eye sockets and looked through the holes in his palms as he examined his surroundings.

He appeared to be on the side of some sort of mountain or hill, laying beneath a canopy of trees, which prevented him from deciding which one it was.

After a moment was spent composing himself, the doctor stood up and brushed the soot and dirt from his lab coat. His trusty lab coat had survived much over the years, so one simple explosion wasn't going to do it in.

Gaster closed his eye sockets and focused on his own Soul. He breathed a sigh of relief as he felt the connection to Sans and Papyrus was not altered or interrupted in any way from the blast. Unfortunately, that meant that the two of them were sent through the vortex as well. And if they were sent through, then that means the kids were probably here too.

He frowned and shook his head. Good going Gaster, this is just like the Core incident. Like always, in his haste for discovery and his excitement for more, he neglected safety protocols and ruined everything… again.

In his haste to discover the effects of Soul Trait injection, he'd scorched his soul with Perseverance, and Sans' with Integrity.

In his haste to uncover the secrets of time travel, he'd fallen into the Core and abandoned his sons.

In his haste to protect the timeline from the Void, he'd tortured Frisk and caused even more pain in his sons' lives.

In his haste to revive Chara, he landed Alex in a genocide timeline.

In his haste to discover more Soul Traits, he'd stranded his friends and family in Underfell and Underswap.

In his haste to discover Soul Traits, again, he'd discovered Betty and almost lost his family to her Fear.

It seems that every single issue and problem that's ever effected his timeline, his impatience had been the root cause of it. And this time… this time it was no different. Had he simply waited for more tests to be done on the QMA's upgraded abilities, he could have avoided this whole mess AND still learned about this timeline's unique structure and Soul Trait.

But… now was not the time for self-loathing. His sons and the Dreemurrs were out there, scared and alone, not knowing anything about this place, save for the few things he mentioned. This was all his responsibility, and dammit, he was going to fix this.

Doctor Gaster finally decided that he'd go downhill, hoping that he'd run into a town soon enough or a clearing to figure out where to go from there. Based on the calculations made by the QMA, they should all be in the general Mt Ebott area. Unfortunately, thanks to the errors and issues that occurred, they could be as far as several miles away from the central point, rather than within a few meters from one another.

As he made his way down, he began to feel a sense of déjà vu. This place… he's been here before, hasn't he? That's when it clicked. This hill, this… mountain side… he was currently standing on Mt Ebott. If memory serves him, this might even be the northern side of it, but he wasn't positive.

As the tree cover began to give way to sunshine, Gaster soon saw a large building, reminding him of his lab back home. That is, if his lab were much larger and had much more funding. Alas, this was the type of building he truly wanted. But, without any funding, and adding the fact that he was no longer a Royal Scientist, this would never be possible for him. Luckily, his scientific successes did not always require such large budgets.

Gaster was definitely getting a strange vibe from this place. This was, most certainly, his doppelgänger's laboratory. He wondered if this other Gaster had ever gone beyond his Void and ventured into the multiverse. Probably not. He likely knew of the possibility, but looking beyond your own timeline is both complex and dangerous. It was a miracle that even he, himself, had been able to do so.

He assumed that any version of himself would at least acknowledge the possibility of the multiverse, and would likely even invest some time into working with it, but there were still a few worries. Based on some of his studies, he's discovered some… well, less kind versions of himself.

I mean, he'd seen timelines where he created Sans and Papyrus artificially, yet kept them as lab rats and tortured them. Yet, there were others where he'd done similar things to all sorts of people. Granted, he had tortured Frisk at one point, but he liked to think that he's changed for the better... and he really hoped the same could be said of this Gaster.

Gaster was also wondering what his relationship would be to Sans and Papyrus here, as well. Perhaps they were both 'dadsters' as Sans had put it, or maybe he was simply another 'bro' with the two of them. Then again, the whole 'creation' idea is also possible, but he'd rather avoid that one. In fact, he might not even be related to them at all. Now _that_ would be odd.

Finally, the skeleton reached the lab and walked around the structure, taking note that there were no structural weaknesses. In fact, it appeared to be made of the same alloy that his original lab in the Underground was constructed with. Yeah, definitely his own handiwork.

He wondered if the other Gaster would be here. If he was, he'd simply try to explain what's going on. If not, but there are others, he could simply pretend to be the other Gaster and start work on finding the others. Not many would understand if he tried to explain himself, and far fewer would react positively.

As he entered the lab, he came across the first security checkpoint. Gaster smiled at the design of this door-frame. It held Soul Sensors, which would read the human's or monster's stats upon entry, verifying their ID and any other relevant information.

He knew this because he was working on a similar system back home. Unfortunately, due to a small budget and the relatively small amount of time he had to work on projects, this one was still in the prototype stage. His own version currently couldn't tell the difference between a temmie and a regular cat. Yeah… plenty of bugs to iron out still…

One thing that he didn't know, though, was how it'd react to alternate versions of people. Theoretically, unless it was synced with multiversal data, it'd identify all alternates as the same person, but still… it was only theoretical, never past the first stages of development on his end.

With a mental cross of his fingers, Gaster entered through the doorway as the opposing monitor turned on.

 **SCANNING SOUL…**

 **MONSTER SOUL DETECTED…**

 **LOADING SOUL DATA…**

 **WELCOME BACK DOCTOR GASTER.**

 **YOU HAVE TWO URGENT MESSAGES.**

Gaster smiled at his success and walking into the lab as the machine opened the door for him. So far so good. It didn't seem to log his entrance as an error, so the other Gaster must be out and about somewhere. And it let him in without a fuss, so this Gaster must not have put much research into the multiverse.

Gaster walked into the lab and soon arrived at, what he assumed to be, his workspace. It was a nice, wooden desk with a large monitor on it. Putting his bony hand onto the pad, it scanned him and unlocked the computer after verifying who it was. Now, time to check out this timeline.

He started with the messages. They were urgent, so since he technically WAS Gaster, he should probably check them out even if they weren't for him.

Message 1:

 _Timeline breach has been detected at approximately 13:50. A total of six timeline breaches have been detected over the course of approximately 2.038 nanoseconds. Data of breach locations is corrupt: locations unknown. Origin of anomaly: unknown. Advise caution._

Gaster frowned. 'Damn, he did start his research, but it must still be in its early stages.' The second message was to simply inform him that the system needed to be updated and checked.

As bad as this was, at least it confirmed his suspicions. There were six of them here, and there were seven of them in the lab. That means that all but one of them ended up here, and they're all separated from each other. Then, everything began to click in his head.

He quickly began work, looking for the Timeline Detection system. After a few moments, he found the program. It was… it was the original one he'd designed in the Underground to monitor the timelines. The one that recorded them all jumping left and right, stopping and starting.

Gaster chuckled to himself. Seems like alternate timelines wasn't on this Gaster's priority list. He could use this to his advantage if this world turned out to be hostile, but it made getting home much harder now.

Luckily, with his expertise on timeline anomalies and data analysis, he might be able to clean up the corrupted data and locate the rest of them, including possibly their identities. Hopefully Alphys wasn't one of them.

He was soon interrupted from his thoughts.

"D-doctor Gaster?" Alphys asked as she walked in. She looked a bit more mature than she normally does, but still wore her lab coat, which meant that this was probably not his Alphys.

Gaster straightened his posture and smiled warmly at the dinosaur-like monster. **_"YES, DOCTOR ALPHYS? WHAT SEEMS TO BE THE ISSUE?"_** Time to see how she answers.

Alphys tilted her head a bit in confusion as she looked at him. Did he mess up? "S-sir, are you alright? Y-you're not talking i-in wingdings…"

Gaster prevented his face from showing any surprise as he lied, **_"I'M SIMPLY TRYING TO BETTER ADJUST MYSELF. I KNOW NOT EVERYONE CAN UNDERSTAND MY OLD DIALECT."_** It wasn't a complete lie. He knew how to speak the language, and it was his first. But, at the end of the day, not many could understand him. At least he now had confirmation that this was another Alphys.

Alphys seemed to buy it, "O-ok, well, I w-was coming to check on you. You s-said you would be o-out to lunch with your g-grandpa Semi."

Gaster remembered that name, but had not heard it in a very, very long time. He shrugged and frowned, **_"MY APOLOGIES, BUT I HAD TO CANCEL BECAUSE OF THIS."_** He replied, motioning for Alphys to come over as she looked at the data about timelines. It was a gamble, but hopefully it'd pay off.

Gaster nodded as she examined it and gasped, **_"IT SEEMS THAT THERE WAS AN ERROR IN THE TIMELINE DETECTION SYSTEM. IF YOU DO NOT MIND, COULD YOU GO AND REBOOT IT? THAT SHOULD HELP CLEAR UP ANY DATA IT COLLECTED."_**

Alphys quickly nodded, "Yes s-sir, I'll go do th-that now!" She said, rushing off and out of Gaster's office. Seems like the gamble didn't backfire. Score one for Gaster.

Gaster sighed in relief as soon as she left. Luckily, she didn't suspect anything, but he didn't know how long it would last. As insecure as Alphys sounds, she's quite clever. Sooner or later, the cat will be out of the metaphorical bag. And when it does… it probably won't be pretty.

It'd be best to get this data and find everyone else as soon as possible. And, if he lucked out, then this other Gaster might have begun work on a QMA-like device. If so, that'd make everything so much easier.

While he waited for Alphys to reboot the system, he began searching the data archives for any blueprints or conceptual sketches for any sort of timeline-jumping technology. Eventually, he found an old sketch that detailed a QMA-esque device, but it was way before the prototype phase. This would take a lot longer now, but he might be able to work with this.

Looking through a few other blueprints, he noticed a familiar looking one. It seemed to be describing the construction of the Core, but the schematics were all heavily modified and recently updated. Was he working on building the Core? The schematics don't say anything about it being a second version. If that's the case, than what happened to the original?

He'd have to investigate this timeline's history.

Soon enough, the system rebooted and the raw data began to appear on the screen. He cracked his fingers and leaned forward. Time to get to work.

* * *

Sans woke up laying on a bed of flowers in some sort of garden. The sun was shining brightly and warming his bones as he awoke. He was still wearing his normal, everyday clothes plus his usual lab coat, just like before. He held his skull with his left hand as he sat up to look around. All around him were various flowers, trees, and other such lovely plants. Looking past the plants, he sees a large stone brick wall, reminding him of Asgore's castle underground.

Despite his comfortable position in the flower patch and the majority of his body calling out for another nap, Sans stood up to get a better look at his surroundings, not remembering how he got there.

After a moment, it all came back. They were showing off the newly upgraded QMA, before it had another glitch and malfunctioned. It must have sent them all through the portal… or was it only him, perhaps. Looking around, he saw no sign of Gaster, nor the kids, nor his brother.

There were only two possibilities. Either Sans fell through the portal alone, or he and several others fell through but ended up in different areas. Honestly, Sans hoped he was the only one who fell in, but the second option was the far more likely one. Now, he really hoped that at least Papyrus was still back in the lab.

Having to figure out where he was and how this timeline is, Sans began to look at his immediate surroundings. The nearby tree to his right seemed like a good place to start, so he went over to take a better look at it. The tree, itself, was rather unremarkable except for its size and placement.

It was in the center of this garden next to a patch of roses, and easily towered over the other plants. Looking closely, he found an engraving on the trunk of the tree, which looked to be burnt onto it with magic. It read 'best friends forever'. He looked a bit closer and saw his first clue on his current location. Right above 'best friends forever' was a set of names: 'Asriel', 'Chara', and 'Lynsie'.

Sans rubbed his neck anxiously as he spoke quietly to himself for a moment, _"gee, where'd i end up? i don't know much about any castles on the surface, so i could be anywhere."_

Then Sans began to think back on the data about this timeline. Everything was supposedly altered, meaning that, in all likelihood, he was probably in a castle that didn't exist in any other timeline. Gee… that certainly helps…

Checking his inventory to see what he happened to have, he noticed that he had fairly little useful items on him. Let's see, he has some hot cats, an emergency bottle of ketchup, an emergency jar of honey (blame Underswap Paps), an empty syringe, and a decently large amount of Gold. So, he had plenty of healing items and food, he had enough G to help himself out, and not much else to help. And… with how weird this timeline is supposed to be, he didn't even know how useful the G would be or if it was an acceptable currency here.

Sans shook his head and turned back around. He had to focus. He continued looking around the garden for any possible clues to where he might be, and maybe even see if there are any signs of anyone else. Thanks to the names, he could safely assume that this castle was owned by the Dreemurrs, meaning that the King and Queen were likely nearby… but he wasn't sure how good of an idea it'd be if he confronted them.

Did this timeline know about other ones? Would he be welcome, as an outsider, here? Hell, was this version of himself even on good terms with the King and Queen? And who's Lynsie? Last Sans checked, most timelines had Asriel and Chara as their kids, and even Frisk, but not someone named Lynsie.

Speaking of Frisk, why wasn't their name on the tree? Was the message written before Frisk's time, or was Frisk not in the picture here? This 'Lynsie' was probably some sort of anomaly, but that still didn't solve any of his biggest concerns. And, worst of all, Sans' 'shortcuts' weren't of much help to him since he didn't know where he was or what the world was like. If he tried to teleport somewhere, he might end up in a wall or something.

Finally shaking himself from his thoughts, Sans began to look for a way into the castle. It took a few minutes of walking through the garden, before he found what he was looking for. A large set of double doors led from the garden into some sort of hallway.

Not knowing much about this place, Sans continued down the hallway, which soon connected to what must have been the throne room. To say it looked elegant would be an understatement.

Along the main path were several, elegantly designed marble pillars, all along the walls, giving it a 3D-looking design. There were all sorts of beautiful flowers decorating the hall in various shades of purple, silver, and gold. At the end of the room laid two very familiar thrones, exactly like those that Asgore and Toriel had in the Underground, with two balconies at the end of the room as well. Comically enough, he also noticed a jar filled to the brim with gold coins, labeled 'Swears'. At least that answered the question of currency.

The room was void, however, of its two rulers. Instead, he noticed a neatly trimmed bonsai tree beside the larger throne, which was probably Asgore's. Sans stood in place for a moment in awe. This looked incredible. Nothing at all like the castle in the Underground. Although the Underground Castle was amazing in its own right, this one was definitely much bigger and more... he couldn't find the word. Castle-like? Regal? Those worked.

This whole thing is only getting more and more confusing. Sans shrugged to himself and muttered under his breath, _"welp, time to see if i can find fluffybuns."  
_ Heh, he'd never get over that name.

As Sans began to turn and leave in another direction, he froze in place to the sound of a feminine voice speaking to him. One he'd never heard before.

"You know, I'm right here, Sansy~." This person said. Sans' mind began racing as he began to try to come up with a strategy for this. He took a deep breath and turned around to face whoever was speaking to him.

He turned around to face the speaker with his usual, lazy grin on his face. He locked eyes with the human behind him. She had the most beautiful hazel eyes, which looked almost green in this lighting. She had long, brown hair that reached past her shoulders and ended somewhere near the center of her back, which was currently in a ponytail. She had a pretty smile as she stared at Sans back. He could feel his Soul pounding in his chest for some reason.

She wore a long, light blue dress with the delta rune emblem adorning her chest, made of a silver fabric and a pair of black heels. She definitely looked like a princess, and based on her appearance, she was definitely neither Chara nor Frisk, meaning this might be this 'Lynsie' that he had learned about from the tree.

He could've swore he saw a look of shock on her face, but if there was one, it was gone almost instantly. Was it something he said, or was it the way he looked? He had a gut feeling that she knew something was up. Heh heh… gut…

"Are you just going to stare at me punny bones?" She asked playfully, her smile turning into more of a confident smirk.

Sans shrugged, smiling a bit wider and trying his best to keep whatever blush he had from forming. _"you know me fluffybuns, eye like to stare."_ He said as playfully as he could. Fluffybuns seemed to be a safe nickname.

She immediately had a light blush, looking away a bit, "Why Sans? There's a million things you could call me, yet you still choose to say that?"

Sans continued smiling, _"tibia honest, i find your reaction humerus. what would you rather me call you, then?"_ He asked. A rather weak attempt on his part to get information, but it might still work.

She shrugged while slightly raising an eyebrow in curiosity. Damn, could she see through him? "I dunno. Maybe just Lynn?" She helpfully supplied.

 _"meh, sounds like too much effort."_ He said playfully with another shrug, " _so just lynn, you seen paps around?"_

Lynsie shook her head with a giggle, "Last I checked, he was still out, getting something for Gaster. Speaking of, weren't you with Papy too?" She asked, raising an eyebrow, more pronounced this time.

Sans internally cursed at himself. At least he knew a bit more now, _"well you know me, i can't stay away from the princess."_ He really hoped she'd buy this.

Lynsie giggled, "Of course, but do you really think that's fair to Papyrus?" It felt like he was being carefully tested.

Now Sans was at a crossroads. How was he supposed to answer this? He couldn't just say no, because he loved his brother. Yet, at the same time, he needed to answer with something, or she'd begin to suspect something. Finally, the skeleton spoke, _"i'll make it up to him later."_ He assured her.

She smiled, "Well then, shouldn't you accompany me? Royal Guardsman?" He's a Royal Guardsman here?

 _'i swear, if my counterpart starts screaming and calling themselves the magnificent sans…'_ He thought to himself. He'd rather not. With Papyrus, that was fine, but just seeing a version of himself like that made him feel exhausted. Hell, he was exhausted just thinking about it.

Sans nodded and did a little bow, _"of course, your highness."_

Lynn turned around and began walking down another hallway, followed closely by Sans. So far so good, he thought. He's maintained his cover, and he's learned a thing or two about this place… but there was still so much that didn't make much sense. He continued following Lynsie, hoping that things weren't going to go the way he felt like they might.

It seems that she liked him, but he wasn't the Sans she knew… and being a person in love, if she _was_ fooled, she wouldn't be for much longer.

* * *

Papyrus quickly found himself in an entirely new environment. It only seemed like moments ago he was standing in his father's lab, watching Doctor Gaster show off his newly upgraded QMA. It was supposed to be a simple thing. He'd show the King and Queen's children the lab, watch them for a bit, and then take them home before enjoying a nice dinner with his family.

Instead, he awoke to the warm sensation of sunlight on his bones and battle body, and the soft grass beneath him rubbing up against his legs as he woke up. His back was leaning against some sort of brick building as his senses returned to him.

He held his skull in his right, gloved hand and groaned, "UHHH, WHERE AM I?" He wondered aloud. He stood up and looked around the corner to find a clue about his current location. He quickly noticed a parking lot, and turning the corner he saw the main entrance to the… school? He was at some sort of school?

Papyrus went out into the open and looked around, into the distance for any remarkable features. In the distance, near what appeared to be Mount Ebott, stood a tall castle, likely owned by royalty. Perhaps it was King Asgore's and Queen Toriel's? They were the only royalty he could think of.

As Papyrus was looking around, someone approached him, "Excuse me sir, may I help you?" She asked.

Papyrus turned to see a middle-aged woman wearing a green dress and matching heels. She looked at him curiously, before smiling, "Royal Guardsman Papyrus? What brings you out here?" She asked.

Papyrus couldn't help the large, proud grin that erupted on his face. He was a Royal Guardsman? His dream had come true here?! That's amazing! 'The Great Royal Guardsman: Papyrus!' He struck a proud pose as his cape fluttered in the breeze.

"NYEH HEH HEH!" He said proudly before returning to the case at hand, "ACTUALLY, KIND MADAM, I'M LOOKING FOR A FRIEND OF MINE? HAVE YOU, BY CHANCE, SEEN FRISK, ALEX, OR CHARA?" He asked, trying to locate the three kids that he was responsible for.

The woman looked puzzled, "Prince Chara?" She asked, before continuing, "I believe Prince Chara is in the Castle, and I don't know who this 'Alex' is, but if you're looking for Frisk, I know where she is." She replied.

Papyrus beamed, "REALLY? WHERE IS SHE? IT IS OF UTMOST IMPORTANCE THAT I FIND HER."

She nodded, "Well, sir, she's currently in class. However, since this is Royal Business, I can take you to her."

Papyrus nodded excitedly, "PERFECT. THANK YOU, MADAM! THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS THANKFUL FOR YOUR COOPERATION!"

She smiled warmly at the skeleton, "Of course. Now, if you'd follow me." She said, motioning for Papyrus to follow as she led him inside the building. "Papyrus, if you don't mind me asking, what is the purpose of getting Frisk?" She asked.

Papyrus nodded, "OF COURSE. I'VE BEEN ASSIGNED TO WATCH OVER THEM TODAY BY QUEEN TORIEL, BUT SOMETHING HAPPENED AND I LOST TRACK OF CHARA AND ALEX. SO, NOW THAT I'VE FOUND FRISK, I'LL BE ABLE TO TAKE HER AND FIND THE OTHER TWO."

She nodded, "Well, it sounds like this is important, especially if you need to gather her, this 'Alex' and the Prince. And Queen Toriel, of all people, gave you this task, you say? This must be very important."

Papyrus was a bit confused by Chara being called a Prince, but he figured it wasn't worth bringing up. He remembered back when he had ended up in another world called 'Underfell', and how weird everything was over there. If this was another world that he'd fallen into, then surely things could be weird here too.

Soon enough, they arrived outside of a classroom. The woman turned to Papyrus, "Please, sir, wait out here while I retrieve Frisk for you." Papyrus nodded as she went inside.

The moment she entered, whatever discussion was happening stopped abruptly. "Principle Miller, to what do we owe this pleasure?" The teacher asked.

Principle Miller turned to the teacher, "I require Frisk. She is requested by the Royal Guard."

Said human stood up and grabbed her backpack, before exiting the room with the Principle following close behind. Once in the hallway, Frisk's eyes widened upon seeing Papyrus standing there in his classic battle-body.

The Principle closed the door and smiled to Papyrus, "There you go, sir. Please remember to take good care of dear Frisk, here."

Papyrus smiled and nodded, "OF COURSE, MADAM. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE." For some reason, Frisk looked a bit… off…

She smiled and turned to Frisk, "Please behave for him, Frisk. The Royal Family apparently want to see you." Frisk nodded, as the Principle than turned and left while the two of them began walking toward the exit.

Frisk, looking a bit scared, turned to Papyrus, "Hey Papyrus?"

Papyrus looked down at Frisk and felt a bit confused. She wore the blue and purple striped sweater, like she usually does, yet she didn't seem like the Frisk he knew. Plus, it's pretty odd that Frisk was in school today, especially since this wasn't her school AND school had just ended like an hour ago.

She almost looked like she was a few years younger than the last time he saw her. Was this his Frisk, or another one? He really hoped it was the former, and based on overall looks alone… that's definitely a maybe. Dang, these timeline things hurt his head.

Nonetheless, Papyrus smiled at Frisk, "WHAT IS IT FRISK?" He frowned a bit upon seeing her worried face, "IS SOMETHING THE MATTER?"

She looked away, "Hey Papyrus, you're not mad at me, right?" She asked, confusing Papyrus even more.

"MAD? WHY WOULD THE GREAT PAPYRUS BE MAD AT YOU? WE'RE BEST FRIENDS, AREN'T WE?" He asked, causing Frisk to jump a bit in shock as she gaped at him.

"Y-yeah, sure Papyrus…" She finally answered.

"NOW, DO YOU HAPPEN TO KNOW WHERE ALEX AND CHARA DISAPPEARED TO? I'M KINDA LOST RIGHT NOW."

Frisk tilted her head, "Who's Alex?"

Papyrus gasped dramatically and stopped walking. He quickly turned to Frisk and picked her up, scaring her a bit and completly forgetting the fact taht this might not be the Frisk he knows, "YOU FORGOT WHO ALEX WAS? NOOOOOOOO!" He exclaimed, wrapping Frisk into a hug, "I'M SO SORRY FRISK, I'M NOT A GOOD FRIEND. I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU FORGOT YOUR BOYFRIEND!" He said, frowning as he held her.

"P-papyrus? I don't have a boyfriend." She tried to say despite the tight embrace she was wrapped in.

Papyrus released her and set her back down on the ground, knelling down to her level, "DON'T YOU REMEMBER FRISK? HE FELL UNDERGROUND LOOKING FOR YOU. DON'T YOU REMEMBER THE TIME YOU AND HE MADE ASRIEL AND CHARA DANCE WITH EACH OTHER AT HOMECOMING? OR THE TIME YOU WENT TO THE CARNIVAL TOGETHER AND WENT ON THE LARGE WHEEL?"

Frisk just looked even more confused, "I… I don't know what you're talking about. Are you ok Papyrus?" She paused, looking him over, "Why aren't you wearing your Guard armor?" She questioned.

Papyrus shook his head, "THIS IS MY ARMOR. I MADE IT MYSELF. DON'T YOU THINK IT'S COOL?"

Frisk paused, trying to think about what's going on. Papyrus thought she had a boyfriend, he didn't know why he might possibly be mad at her, and he thought they were best friends. Then… something came to mind that terrified her. Did Papyrus forget everything? No, that can't be it…

"Papyrus… who am I?" She asked.

Papyrus paused, looking at Frisk as if she were an alien. Maybe this wasn't his Frisk... Only one way to find out, "WHY, YOU'RE FRISK DREEMURR, DAUGHTER OF ASGORE AND TORIEL. WITH CHARA AS YOUR SISTER, ASRIEL AS YOUR BROTHER, AND ALEX AS… WELL, AS YOUR BOYFRIEND. DO YOU…" Papyrus lowered his voice a bit in sadness as he continued, "DO YOU REALLY NOT REMEMBER?"

Frisk froze in fear.

"You… you're not Papyrus, are you?" She said, afraid of who this might really be in front of her as she held her head in both of her hands. Was this even real?


	3. Meeting Faces, Old and New

**Remember: Spoilers for Undertale, my story, and R.I.P Lynn's are contained within this story. **

**If you'd rather not be spoiled in any of those three ways, please stop now and go read the other stories or play the game. (It's worth it!)  
**

 **If you need another reminder/overview of either of our stories, please go back to chapter one or two to check them out.**

 **Thanks again to R.I.P. Lynn for making this possible.**

 **Now, time to check on everyone!**

* * *

 **Chapter Three:** Meeting Faces, Old and New.

Chara found herself in a location in which she'd never normally go… a large, public mall.

She awoke on a bench, of all places, in the center of some sort of massive mall. Looking to her side, she quickly noticed a large fountain in the center of the little plaza.

She was horrified by the fountain, simply because there was a statue of Mettaton in the center of it, which was spitting out water, meaning this was an MTT brand mall. Luckily, unlike in his Underground MTT Hotel, the all of the water remained in the fountain. At least he was learning…

She quickly got off of the bench and began to look around. She let out a sigh of relief when she noticed there were far fewer people here than she'd thought there'd be. But, why wouldn't there be when it was a weekday.

Chara sighed as she stood there, frustrated at the world. Of course, Alex had to go and say that, didn't he?! Stupid Alex, he's lucky he's not always that stupid… and if she was being honest, all of that time spent in Frisk's head made her think more highly of Alex than she probably would have felt normally.

Digging into her pockets, she found she had meager supplies for a timeline-hopping journey. The only good thing she had on her was a decent amount of G and a king-sized chocolate bar she had been saving for later… Well, no time like the present.

She quickly, in excitement, tore off the top of the wrapper and broke off a decent portion of the chocolate bar, before popping it into her mouth. The pleasant aroma and taste of the chocolate melting on her tongue almost sent shivers down her spine. She could NEVER grow tired of this tasty treat.

Now that her mind was swimming in happiness, she decided to start looking around. If she was in an MTT brand area, she should easily be able to find some familiar faces. Hopefully even her sister or brother. Hell, she'd even take one of the boneheads at this point.

She began walking around the mall, looking for anything or anyone who could help, while continuing to munch on her chocolate bar. Heh, if Toriel could see her she'd tell her to stop snacking 'cause it'd ruin her dinner. Guess that's one good thing that came out of this whole ordeal…

Continuing to look around, she soon found herself in front of a shop with a very familiar looking owner. This shop sold all sorts of trinkets and objects, including some not-so-edible pieces of paper and glitter. The sign for the shop, like usual, was written in sloppy paint, which wasn't really a bad thing. It was the 'Tem Shop'.

Chara opened the door, against her better judgement when it came to Temmies, and walked up to the familiar shop owner.

"Greetings Temmie." Chara said after swallowing the rest of her piece of chocolate.

Temmie looked up excitedly, still wearing her normal outfit. She looks identical to how she did in the Underground. At least some things around here are familiar.

"hOI! WelCoMe To dA TeM SHoP." Temmie said enthusiastically, before narrowing her eyes at Chara, "HeY, HeY! I kNOws Ya!" She said, trying to think of a reason why the odd red-eyed human before her looks so familiar.

Chara shrugged, "Hey, not all humans are the same, you know." She had a light smirk.

Temmie shook her head, "No nOs, TeM DiDN't meAn LiK Dat." She defended herself, basically apologizing for the comment.

Chara smiled and shook her head, "It's no problem Temmie. If you don't mind me asking, have you seen another human wearing a blue sweater walking by? Or even one wearing a red shirt? Hell, if you've seen any skeletons, I'd take that."

Temmie shook her head, "No, TeM no sEE anY SkelETons… bUt TeM dID sEE FrIsk!"

Chara's eyes widened, "F-frisk? Where?"

Temmie stood up on her hind legs and pointed to her right, "sHE waS wAlkIn tOwaRd tHe ToURism DeSk." She helpfully supplied.

This made some sense. Frisk was probably going to look for a map to figure out where she was and where she should go.

Chara nodded and smiled, "Thanks Temmie." She turned to leave, but felt kinda bad. As much as she disliked the Temmies, the Tem Shop owner was always kinda nice, especially after she and Frisk paid for her college back home.

She turned back toward Temmie and put down 10G. "Thanks again Temmie."

Temmie's eyes sparkled with joy for a moment, before she leaped over the counter and gave Chara a quick hug, "Th-tHank YoU!"

Chara couldn't help the giggle that came out of her as she petted Temmie a bit before leaving the store. Boy, was she lucky that SHE wasn't allergic to Temmies. Poor Frisk…

After leaving the Tem Shop, Chara proceeded in the given direction, before soon coming across another small plaza. Straight ahead of her was the 'Tourism Information', which was where she was hoping to find Frisk.

As she began to walk over toward it to continue her search, her attention was grabbed by some nearby televisions playing a commercial. Mettaton, of course, was the main star of the commercial (in all of his EX glory), but the content of the commercial held her attention despite her dislike for Mettaton's style.

The screens displayed Mettaton in his EX form, smiling straight at the camera. His voice still carried that artificial tone to it due to his robot body.

"- _THAT'S RIGHT, SUMMER'S JUST AROUND THE CORNER FOLKS. AND WHAT BETTER WAY TO START YOUR SUMMER THAN MEETING THE ROYAL DREEMURR FAMILY."_ He announced.

Chara scoffed, happy that her own version of Mettaton hasn't thought of this idea yet. Luckily, it helped that her mom and dad weren't considered royalty anymore. Chara never wanted to be part of a royal family. All she really wanted was to be part of A family. It really didn't matter what their official title was.

The commercial continued, " _THAT'S RIGHT BEAUTIES, THE ENTIRE ROYAL FAMILY. INCLUDING KING ASGORE, QUEEN TORIEL, PRINCE ASRIEL, PRINCE CHARA, AND… MOST IMPORTANTLY… PRINCESS LYNSIE."_

Chara almost burst into laughter, hearing that she was a 'he' in this world. That sounded ridiculous. Looking at the screen, she saw pictures of the five mentioned names. Mom and Dad looked about the same, except a bit more aged, and the same could be said about Asriel, appearing to be much older, maybe in his twenties. He looked almost like he did when he had all of those souls and became _The Absolute God of Hyderdeath._ Hehe, silly Azzy. Never change.

What surprised her the most was this alternate Chara. Unlike herself, or even Asriel, he looked to be in his late thirties, probably forties. He looked much more mature, but still had a similar taste in style. Then, the final person, 'Lynsie' was another human. Adopted? Probably, just like her. She wore a regal blue dress in the picture, had green eyes and brown hair, and smiled into the camera.

Chara had definitely never seen her before. She wasn't bad looking either, and if she was a member of the Dreemurr famiy, she probably wasn't very bad for a human.

What confused Chara the most, though, was that Frisk wasn't mentioned. Obviously, Frisk had to exist here in this timeline, but was she not adopted by mom and dad? Temmie obviously recognized Frisk, which meant she existed here, and she at least looked similar to her sister… but what happened in this timeline?

Chara wasn't paying attention to the rest of the commercial as it finished, " _-AND THAT'S ALL YOU HAVE TO DO TO GET A CHANCE TO WIN. SO, GET OUT THERE AND SHOP TIL YOU DROP."_ The commercial ended and the familiar, disgusting Mettaton music continued playing in the background.

Now that the commercial no longer held her attention, she continued over to the information desks and looked around. There were several monsters and humans around it, talking to each other and obscuring her view quite well. Quite frankly, Frisk could be fifteen feet in front of her and she wouldn't know. Why'd there have to be so many damn tourists?

She took a deep breath and concentrated, closing both of her crimson eyes as she did so. She focused on the magic aura around her, searching for Frisk. Since they both had red Souls and had been connected for so long, they could almost get a feel for one another.

Unfortunately, for whatever reason, the magic auras around her were interfering with her senses. These humans, for some reason, had much higher magic levels than back home. It was almost as if they'd been exposed to magic for their entire lives, but that's not possible… is it?

She sighed and opened her eyes, realizing this wasn't going to work. So, she decided to go back to manually searching for her sister.

After searching the nearby area for several minutes, she was beginning to give up hope. With so many humans around her and no one helping her search, finding Frisk would be pretty hard. Why'd there have to be so many damn tourists?!

That's when she heard her sister scream her name.

* * *

Frisk had been lost before, but never in such an odd area. She had awoken under the shade of a tree right beside a large parking lot and another parking garage. Looking around, she soon found a large mall-like building adorned with three letters. 'MTT'.

She giggled a bit to herself. No matter where or when she went, it seems like she would never get away from the influence of Mettaton. Not that it was necessarily a bad thing, but still… it was quite amusing.

Looking around herself, she decided that searching the MTT building might be her best option. I mean, worst comes to worst and she can't find anyone, she could probably locate Mettaton or Burgerpants for help. The way the sky looked and the smiles on nearby monsters' and humans' faces certainly must mean this is a friendly timeline. Or, at least, the sky wasn't blood red, so that's a good sign.

Frisk brushed the grass blades off of her pants as she walked inside, looking around at the massive structure in awe. There were so many shops and so many people and monsters together. It was simply amazing.

She continued walking and passed by a few shops before she found one of those over-sized maps, which details where everything was in this large complex. A few different names caught her attention, like 'Tem Shop', 'Grillby's' in the food court, and even an 'MTT Brand Apparel Shop'. After examining the map, she giggled as a though erupted in her head.

 _'You examine the large map before you. You feel just as lost as before.'_

She giggled despite the looks some onlookers gave her, before she sighed and frowned. Although she was happy that Chara had her own body and Soul again, there were still times that she missed her witty commentary.

After looking up at the map again, another name caught her eye. 'Tourist Information Desk'. It made sense. Anything MTT brand would be world famous, so of course there'd be a tourist desk. That might be a good first place to check. There, she should be able to learn about where exactly she is and where she might need to go to find anyone else that may have fallen into this timeline as well.

Frisk reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone to examine it. As expected, and like Gaster had told her once, it had no service. Seems like her phone wouldn't be making any calls over here. Her inventory, however, was fully accessible and so was her music library.

Determined to find her friends and family, Frisk proceeded toward her preferred destination while putting in a pair of earbuds. Time for a bit of music. It couldn't hurt, right? She chose her song and it soon began. She smiled as the music began.

She loved this song. **'Life Is Beautiful' by Sixx:A.M.**

 _You can't quit until you try._

 _You can't live until you die._

 _You can't learn to tell the truth until you learn to lie._

 _Can't breathe until you choke._

 _You gotta laugh when you're the joke._

 _There's nothing like a funeral to make you feel ALIVE!_

Frisk's head began to bob to the music as it picked up. She began to mouth the words to the song as she continued down the path.

 _Just open your eyes,_

 _Just open your eyes and see that LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL._

 _Will you swear on your life,_

 _That no one will cry… AT MY FUNERAL?_

She soon passed by the Tem Shop, only slowing down a bit to get a good look inside. She wanted to stop and say hi to Temmie, but didn't feel like that would be a good idea. Firstly, she still didn't know much about this timeline, and secondly, she needed to find everyone else first. The song continued.

 _I know some things that you don't._

 _I've done things that you won't._

 _There's nothing like a trail of blood to find your way back home._

 _I was waiting for my hearse._

 _What came next was so much worse._

 _It took a funeral to make me feel ALIVE._

 _Just open your eyes,_

 _Just open your eyes and see that LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL!_

 _Will you swear on your life,_

 _That no one will cry at my FUNERAL?_

She passed by a few other stores and her pace began to quicken, becoming in sync with the song. She couldn't help singing the lyrics under her breath, gaining a few looks from passersby, but she didn't really care. The song slowed down a bit for this next part, which was perfect.

 _Alive,_

 _Just open your eyes,_

 _Just open your eyes and see that LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL._

 _Will you swear on your life,_

 _That no one will cry at my FUNERAL?_

Soon enough, she made her way to the information desk as the song sped back up. The song was coming to an end, unfortunately. But, it wasn't too bad.

 _Just open your eyes,_

 _Just open your eyes and see that LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL._

 _Will you swear on your life,_

 _That no one will cry at my FUNERAL?_

Unfortunately, the song ended after its short duration, and she put the earbuds away. She made her way to the information area and searched around, soon finding a map of the surrounding area. After obtaining the map, she stepped back outside of the information area and examined it a bit better.

So, she was near Mt Ebott still, so that's a good first step. Secondly, she noticed that there was a freaking castle on the Mountain, owned by the Dreemurrs. That's good. She could go see mom and dad. They'd help her out for sure, seeing as her relationship with them was pretty good. In fact, the castle wasn't too far away from here.

She could easily take a bus to the base of the mountain, and then walk from there. The only issue would be security, but that shouldn't be a problem when she tells them that she's the princess.

Frisk couldn't help her giggle. A princess? She'd never thought of herself like that before. Sure, she technically is a princess since she's the adopted daughter of the King and Queen, but they don't really like going by those titles anymore. Maybe it's just because they have a castle here? Who knows?

Determined to meet with and talk to her parents, Frisk continued onward. She walked away from the tourist area and back toward one of the plazas and hopefully and exit, before she heard a large commotion.

"Did you hear? It's the Prince?"

"The Prince, you say? Here?!"

"He's so hot! I can't get enough of him!"

"Dude, I'd love to meet him!"

"Damn. He's even more dreamy than the commercials show."

Frisk's eyes opened considerably as she heard this. The Prince? As in Asriel? Of course! Knowing how kind Asriel is, and since he's her brother, he'd be sure to help her find anyone else that came by. She could definitely trust him.

Frisk began pushing her way through the crowd, trying to find the Prince. She was kinda nervous despite her Determination. Sure, the Prince would likely help her, but she couldn't help the feeling that this felt wrong. Maybe Asriel is mad at me? Did this version of myself RESET a lot? She didn't know, but she needed to find out despite her worries.

Finally, after working her way through the annoying crowd, she eventually reached the end of the crowd. She pushed her way through the last few people before she reached the opening.

She saw a few monsters acting like guards, all around an adult human. He wore a pair of black jeans and a dark green t-shirt. He must have been in his forties. His brown eyes had bits of red in them as he looked straight ahead with a frown. He didn't look happy about the crowd that was forming.

Frisk was confused. This was a Prince? What about Asriel? And who was this? She focused on his red eyes, his green shirt, and his thick brown hair. Wait a moment…

"Chara?!" Frisk said a bit louder than she meant to, quickly gaining his attention as well has some of the guards.

'Chara' locked his red eyes onto Frisk's brown ones, narrowing them for an instant before widening.

"Frisk? What are you doing here?" He asked calmly, taking a step toward her. Frisk was petrified, stuck in place and afraid. An adult, male Chara? And she knew many versions of her sister weren't as nice as she was.

Frisk shook her head, "I- I don't…" She stuttered.

'Chara' looked confused, but approached Frisk more quickly.

Then, he fell backwards, onto his butt in an instant.

Standing between 'Chara' and Frisk stood Frisk's sister, staring down menacingly at her doppelganger. Chara had her red, glowing knife drawn and aimed at the Prince in her outstretched arm, causing the entire crowd to go silent. She had heard her sister's yell and stopped the threat. No one hurts Frisk.

"Don't you DARE lay a hand on my sister." Chara threatened.

Instantly, the three guards drew their weapons. Frisk recognized Dogamy and Lesser Dog as two of them, but the third monster was one she'd never seen before. It appeared to be a lioness-like monster, wielding dual swords.

The other Chara stood back up quickly, "And who the hell are you?" He said, looking down upon Frisk's sister.

"Are you braindead? I just told you, ya idiot!" She countered angrily.

The other Chara quickly put his hand in his pocket, as if reaching for a weapon, but he never pulled it out. Chara took in a deep breath and sighed, "Alright…" He turned to the three monster guards behind him.

"Guards, take these two into custody for questioning and for assaulting the Royal Prince."

Dogamy saluted Prince Chara, "Yes, my Prince."

Chara snarled at the monsters, causing them to pause for a moment. Frisk put a reassuring hand on Chara's shoulder. "Chara… I don't think we should make this any worse…"

The older Prince Chara's eyes widened upon hearing that name, especially upon noticing his assailant's clothing, knife, and eyes. It looked like a younger, female version of himself.

Chara shook her head, "Well, I'd hate to say I'm gonna regret this, but… nah!"

Chara quickly raised her right arm and summoned several knives, before smashing them into the tile before her. The tiles shattered into dust, clouding the monsters' and the Prince's vision. Using this opportunity, Chara gripped Frisk's hand tightly and took off in the opposite direction.

Prince Chara coughed a few times to expel the dust from his lungs before scowling, "After them!" He shouted, pointing toward the two teenagers as they ran off.

* * *

Darkness surrounded Alex as he laid on nothing.

Nothing was around him.

Nothing.

Then it flashed and he woke up.

But still… there was nothing.

He stood in the darkness, confused on how he got there. Where's Frisk? Where's Chara? Where's Sans, or Papyrus, or Gaster? Where's Alphys?

What happened?

As Alex thought these things, the darkness around him shifted.

Before him was a pair of red eyes, staring mercilessly into his Soul. His Soul was before him, shining a bright, vibrant Silver. Who was staring at his Soul? Why?

Then, a red smile appeared below the eyes.

A giggle soon accompanied the creepy, red face.

 _"Ehehehehehehehehehehe~"_ It laughed.

Alex covered his ears and fell to his knees. His head was filled with pain.

Just make it stop!

Then, more words came, but they were distorted. Unrecognizable.

"What… what do you want?!" Alex asked, terrified.

A red, ghostly form surrounded the smile and eyes, forming a child with shoulder length hair. The child continued to smile as it spoke, less distorted this time.

 _"What's the matter? You're not afraid of me, are you?"_ The eerie voice asked.

Alex looked down as the pain only worsened, looking away from the child before him.

The pain numbed slightly, allowing Alex to pick his head back up. The form before him had shifted.

Before him was the same specter… except it wasn't. Now it was more solid as it maintained its wicked smile. _"What's wrong Alex?"_

He looked away to find the specter had moved positions, not standing before him as it shifted into something new.

The ghost now glowed blue, and took the form of a short skeleton. It opened its mouth, but the words were distorted again, sending a shock of pain through Alex's skull.

"S-stop it… p-please…"

The words cleared up ever-so-slightly.

 _"Just give up. I did."_ It said flatly.

Alex felt immense pain blossom in his chest, originating in his Soul. If felt like it was ablaze, burning from the inside out. Alex doubled over and fell to his side in a ball. The pain was nearly unbearable, causing his Soul's vibrancy to diminish.

He looked up again to find the ghost had changed again. It was white now, but still a skeleton. But this one was taller, and had holes in his palms. Its voice was more disfigured than the previous two combined… yet somehow… Alex understood it.

 _"This is for science, child… hold still and surrender, or the pain will only get worse…"_ It said threateningly.

Alex winced and recoiled, sliding as far away from the ghost as possible. Why was this thing doing this to him? What did he do to deserve this? Any of this?

He wanted Frisk. He wanted his mom and dad. He wanted his friends. Was that so much to ask?!

The ghost became more physical, changing to the form of an adult man, completely shrouded in darkness. But this darkness was different from the Void. It was… darker… more sinister. The being made of darkness smiled upon Alex's trembling form.

 ** _"Do not worry Alex… everything will be just fine…"_** He said with a smile, as consciousness slipped away from the trembling teenager. The being, however, stared at Alex's Soul for a moment longer. The silver in his Soul had dulled, becoming less of a regal, rare color and more of a dull, sad grey.

 **"Everything will be just fine…"**


	4. Fixes, Flirts, Fishes, and Felonies

**Remember: Spoilers for Undertale, my story, and R.I.P Lynn's are contained within this story. **

**If you'd rather not be spoiled in any of those three ways, please stop now and go read the other stories or play the game. (It's worth it!)  
**

 **If you need another reminder/overview of either of our stories, please go back to chapter one or two to check them out.**

 **Thanks again to R.I.P. Lynn for making this possible.**

 **Now, time to check on everyone!**

* * *

 **Chapter Four:** Fixes, Flirts, Fishes, and Felonies.

Jordan Sower sipped on his cup of coffee as he entered Gaster's lab. He frowned at the scene of destruction and sighed as he kept walking forward. Soon enough, he spotted Alphys and Undyne, sitting beside one another on a black couch, which looked really out of place. They must've brought it out from the break room.

Alphys' head was wrapped in bandages as she was comforted by Undyne. What a mess this was.

Jordan had just been in the middle of receiving a cup of brand new Spider Coffee at Muffet's Parlor when he had gotten the phone call. Gaster's machine malfunctioned and sent the skeletons and the kids to another timeline. What a great surprise… but not necessarily unexpected.

Jordan walked over to the two monsters and bent down a bit, "Doctor Alphys, how do you feel?"

She smiled weakly, "J-Jordan, I'm fine. Just a h-hit to the h-head."

Undyne frowned, "Just take it easy babe, everything will be just fine."

Jordan smiled at the two of them, before looking around the lab. The upgraded QMA was nearly damaged beyond repair. If it were any worse it would be uirrepairable. "So, I'm guessing that I haven't been called here to just hang out and talk about life…" He said sadly.

Undyne nodded, "Yeah. I found my girl unconscious next to this debris. I figured, 'Hey, Jordan's pretty powerful and pretty knowledgeable about this science stuff, so maybe he could help fix this.'"

Jordan sighed, "Listen Undyne, as much as I'd like to help, I don't know how much help I'd be. Sure, I understand the multiverse pretty well, but I'm far from as smart as Gaster."

Undyne stood up, "So what? Were just not gonna do anything?" She asked, a bit of anger in her tone.

Jordan shrugged, "Honestly, it might be best to just wait for them to reconnect from their side. Hey Alphys, where'd they end up anyway? Any data left?"

Alphys slowly got off of the couch and walking over to a different, still working monitor. She nodded for Jordan to come see after a moment. "We g-gathered a few d-data points." They soon popped up on the screen. '2390131' and '11796565' were the most important, pronounced points.

Something about these points was familiar to Jordan. He'd seen these numbers before… but it's been so long that he couldn't even come close to a match. Jordan sighed and took a breath, turning around toward no one.

"Core Frisk, wanna come out?" He asked to no one in particular.

Soon enough, a monochromatic version of Frisk appeared before them all. Their black, void-filled eye sockets stared at Jordan questionably. "How'd you know I was watching?"

Jordan chuckled softly, "You're always watching, Frisk."

Core Frisk sadly nodded, "Yeah… so let me guess, you need help finding your friends?"

Alphys and Undyne soon joined Jordan and stood beside him. Undyne's eyes enlarged, "Whoa, you're Core Frisk? Gaster said you weren't on good terms with us."

Core Frisk sighed and looked away with crossed arms, "More like I was told to leave you all alone."

Jordan softly put a hand on Core Frisk's shoulder, making them look at him, "Listen Frisk, please. We need your help to find them. Which timeline did they go to?"

Core Frisk took a step back and frowned, "I can't really help you."

"Why not?!" Undyne asked angrily, "Our friends could be in danger! Wouldn't you want to help save your friends if they were in danger?!"

Core Frisk's form grew slightly darker as they allowed their black hair to cover their eye sockets, "You don't think I want to help? That timeline is like no other. We've all agreed to leave it alone."

"What?" Jordan asked.

"That timeline… we call it 'RenewTale.'" They answered, "The anomaly there… She's one of the most powerful anomalies in existence. She could singlehandedly give Error Sans a run for his money… if he ever showed up there, that is."

"I-is she, th-this anomaly, g-good?" Alphys asked, getting nervous.

Core Frisk shrugged, "It's all relative. I mean, she hadn't done anything really bad like a genocide, but it kinda depends on how you cross her."

Jordan took a small step forward, towards the child, "Then please, help us get there. Obviously, we mean no harm, so it shouldn't be an issue."

Core Frisk looked up at them suddenly and took a step back, shaking his head. "Y-you don't understand. She has power power over the entire timeline. We've designated that timeline as a No-Travel Zone. We even increased the timeline barrier around that world to discourage entry to it."

Undyne tried to grab Core Frisk harshly and pick them up, but she phased right through them. Regardless, she spoke, "So then unincrease the barrier! Help us get our friends back!"

Core Frisk shook his head, "NO! You are to make no attempt to access that timeline."

"And just abandon them? Plus, all these warnings about the anomaly? These sound like hypotheticals. This anomaly sounds like she'd only be protecting the timeline, not actively seeking out conflict." Jordan countered.

"Yeah, and didn't they already break this 'rule' of yours by going to that timeline in the first place? What's the harm in breaking it again? It's not like you tried to stop them earlier." Undyne asked too.

Core Frisk disappeared, reappearing behind them. "I've told you too much. Just forget it. And DO NOT try to access that timeline!"

Core Frisk then vanished from the lab, making Undyne scream in rage.

"NYYAAHHHHHH! The nerve of that guy! Telling us to abandon out friends! Who do they think they are?!"

"U-Undyne relax." Alphys tried.

"Yes, we're still going to get working on a solution. This seems like an issue that can't just be waited out."

Undyne turned to Jordan in confusion, "But what about what that black and white thing said?"

Alphys chuckled, "Th-they also told us to stop a few other times before, s-so what's the h-harm in ignoring them a-again?"

Mister Sower nodded, "Yes, but we have an issue." The two monsters turned to face him, "If I had to make a wild guess, I'd say the QMA will take a number of weeks to fully repair without Gaster. And, quite frankly, we shouldn't wait that long."

"So?! What are we supposed to do then? Can't we get other smart people to help?" Undyne asked.

Alphys frowned, "W-well, Sans, m-myself, and Gaster are th-the only one's capable of repairing i-it, so there isn't r-really anyone else."

Jordan snapped his fingers, "Doctor Alphys, is the prototype QMA still in working order?"

She nodded with a frown, "Y-yeah, but it only h-has access to a few, close t-timelines. It won't work for this one."

Jordan smiled and shook his head, "No, but maybe we could try to upgrade that one. Maybe it won't be as stable, but it should save us a lot of time."

"Hell yeah! Now THAT sounds like a good idea, right Alphys?"

"Y-yeah, that could work. It's d-downstairs in st-storage."

Jordan smiled, "Great. Lead the way, doctor Alphys!"

* * *

Frisk and Chara continued sprinting away from the scene behind them, running by various shops with no idea on where they were heading. All they knew was they should try to get away from the 'Prince' and his group of monsters.

"Hey, STOP!" They heard Dogamy yell after them as they kept running. Lesser Dog and the Lion monster were chasing them too.

Chara had since let go of Frisk's hand as they now ran at an even pace, side-by-side. Chara turned to Frisk as they ran, "Frisk, anything useful in that inventory of yours?"

Frisk pulled up her inventory as they continued running, checking both it and the dimensional boxes held within her phone. She saw various items from her journey, including the Tough Glove and the Dirty Tutu.

She frowned until she found what she needed. With a wide smile, Frisk pulled the 'Stick' out of her inventory.

Chara grinned back at her sister, "Nice work Frisk. Use it."

As they ran, they soon entered another small plaza where they could head in a number of different directions. They slowed down and came to a stop here.

"Freeze, humans!" The lioness said as they stopped running and approached the teens. Frisk, smiling held the stick above her head and waved it slowly back-and-forth in a hypnotizing way.

The lioness chuckled, "Silly human. We are the Royal Guard. It would take far more than a stupid piece of wood to defeat us."

Frisk, despite the monster's confidence, smiled a bit wider as she chucked it to her left, sending it flying down the other path.

A moment later, the two dog monsters trampled the lioness to the floor as they sprinted after the stick. With all three of their pursuers incapacitated, Frisk and Chara took off toward their right.

They continued running down the new corridor as they heard the lioness shout after them, but they ignored her orders to stop.

Soon, they reached another plaza, more filled with people than the previous one. In fact, all of their exits seemed to be cut off as several security guards began to appear.

"Freeze."

"You're under arrest."

"There's no escaping Justice."

They all called out toward Frisk and Chara as they stood in the center of the plaza. Sunlight shined upon them through the glass roof above them as Chara looked for an exit.

She felt Frisk tug on her shoulder, grabbing her attention.

"Ch-chara, I think we should surrender."

"Wh-what?!" She asked in disbelief, trying to see if she heard her sister right.

"I mean, we're lost in a place we don't know and you attacked a Prince. I just don't want things to get any worse." Frisk said sadly.

"What about Alex?" She countered, making Frisk hesitate, "We can't try to find or help him if we're in jail!"

The guards now surrounded the pair of them. "Give it up kids, playtime is over."

Chara turned to Frisk. "Frisk, you trust me, right?"

Frisk, after a split-second of hesitation, confidently nodded.

Chara smiled.

"Not yet, idiots!" She said, sending a flurry of red knives at the glass ceiling above them all, shattering it with ease.

The guards did exactly as Chara wanted. They all dove away, back into the cover of the corridors or nearby stores as glass shards rained from above.

She turned toward Frisk, "Hold on, I'm gonna try something."

Chara closed her eyes and concentrated on the broken roof above them. She held Frisk's hand tightly as the world warped around the two of them, depositing them on the solid concrete roof above them.

Frisk looked around, before locating the hole in the glass portion of the roof and looked down. The guards were all wondering where they went.

She giggled in success, until she turned back to look at Chara.

Chara laid on her back with her eyes closed. Her red Soul was out of her chest with steam coming off of it. "Ch-Chara! What happened?!"

Her face was covered in worry as she ran over to Chara's side, shaking her awake.

After a moment, Chara's eyes opened and she groaned. Frisk quickly wrapped her sister into a hug. Chara chuckled, "Hehe, sorry about that Frisk."

Frisk hugged her for a moment longer before separating a bit to look into Chara's red eyes. "Chara? What happened?"

Chara frowned, "Sans was trying to teach me how to use shortcuts. Honestly, that was my first time doing is successfully."

Frisk frowned in worry, "You can't push your Soul that far, Chara. You need to practice." Frisk then took a magical chocolate bar out of her inventory and gave it to Chara. "Here, eat this. It'll heal you…" She commanded her sister, "Plus I know how much you love your chocolate~!" She added teasingly.

Chara giggled, "You always know my weaknesses." Without hesitation, she took a large bite of the magical monster food chocolate bar. It melted in her mouth and flooded her system with energy.

The steam soon stopped coming off of her Soul and Chara was able to stand back up. She smiled toward Frisk, "Thanks sis. Now, let's get outta here."

"NOT SO FAST!" They heard someone shout.

The two teenagers turned to see Undyne standing there, wearing her usual black armor. She looked pretty badass, even without her helmet covering her face.

She narrowed her eyes at Frisk, "Frisk? What are you doing? And who's this little hooligan with you?" She asked, scowling at the two humans.

Chara clenched her fights, "I'm not a hooligan, you stupid anchovy."

Frisk gasped at Chara, "Chara! That wasn't nice."

Undyne's face turned into a snarl, "What'd you call me, you fucking punk?" Undyne's empty hand was soon filled with one of her signature cyan spears.

Frisk turned to Chara and pulled her back a bit, before taking a step forward to deal with this. She whispered to Chara, "I'll handle Undyne. Try to find a way off of the roof."

Chara nodded as Frisk stepped forward.

Frisk struck one of her poses from the Mettaton Show and smiled seductively at Undyne, "Hey, if I were a fish, I'd be hooked on you." She could almost literally see the [FLIRT] option materialize in the air before her.

Undyne's blue scales turned red as she struggled to contain her blush, "Wh-wh-wha…" She struggled, "A-are you flirting with me?"

Chara couldn't help herself, "L-let's date later, after I capture you!" She said, doing her best to imitate Papyrus. This served only to increase Undyne's blush.

"I-I have a girlfriend!" She said, trying to defend herself. Chara took this opportunity to take off and look for a ladder off of the roof to escape with.

Frisk struck another pose, "There are plenty of fish in the sea, but all I see is you with me." She said, making Undyne shake a little bit.

"E-ENOUGH!" Undyne shouted, forcing Frisk's Soul from her body as the two of them became locked in combat.

With a quick swipe of her spear, Frisk's red Soul turned Green. Undyne looked away and took a deep breath to recompose herself, choosing not to give the monologue about Green Souls since this was Frisk, and Frisk had battled her many times in the past.

It was time to fight.

Frisk took a fighting stance as she reached into her inventory and donned the Temmie Armor. Thank god, she'd kept ahold of the magnificent armor.

Undyne snarled at Frisk, "Just like old times, eh punk? En guard!"

Undyne thrust herself forward towards Frisk as she put her green shield up in front of her.

Based on the circumstances, it was fairly likely that she wasn't going to kill her, just drop her HP to 1, immobilize her, and capture her. But Frisk couldn't let her.

"Stay still, you little shit." Undyne said as she sent dozens of spears at Frisk from different directions.

Frisk, however, had trained against Undyne and her spears plenty of times. Raising her shield with perfect precision, Frisk proceeded to easily block the oncoming attacks.

Undyne did not find this amusing, as she soon swapped strategies and swiped her spear at Frisk, returning her Soul to red as rings of spears went at her.

Dodging and rolling left and right, she continued to dodge Undyne's strikes, which served to piss her off even more.

"Stay still punk!"

Frisk snapped her fingers on both hands, before turning them into guns and winking at Undyne, making her even angrier.

"STOP THAT!"

Undyne quickly used her green magic to lock-down Frisk's Soul once more as she began to send more spears at her from all directions.

This time, however, she wasn't going to play fair. Spears began to come in sync with one another, forcing Frisk to choose which one would hit her and which one she'd block. Seems like Undyne was done playing games.

Frisk's HP was quickly falling. At this rate, she'd be down in under a minute. Frisk focused on her Soul, filling herself with Determination.

Just as the next set of four spears came for her, Frisk's Soul returned to its natural red color, allowing her to dive and roll out of the way.

Undyne's eyes widened, "You've learned some new tricks, I see. Well, so have I! I've got two lifetimes full of battle experience. What have you got?"

Despite the pain blossoming across her body from the spears, Frisk managed to smile at Undyne as she began to attack once more.

However, thanks to Frisk's newfound freedom from Undyne's green Soul magic, Frisk easily dodged the oncoming spears.

As the attack came to an end, Undyne finally got a lucky blow in, smacking Frisk in the side of her head and sending her skidding across the ground. She was now down to 1 HP, and rendered almost unconscious, ending the fight.

"There we go. Now, you're under arrest." Undyne informed her as she began to approach Frisk's form on the roof.

Thanks to the Temmie Armor, her HP went up by one, making it two now, but she was no stronger than before now… but Chara was back, having discovered an escape route in the form of a ladder down to the ground.

After she saw what Undyne did to Frisk, she became enraged. No one can hurt her family and get away with it. She ran at Undyne, jumping up and kicking her in the center of her chest plate, sending the fish monster stumbling back, away from Frisk.

"Get the hell away from my sister." Chara said, showing off her red knife.

"You? You want some too, punk?"

Chara snarled and ran toward Undyne as she sent cyan spears at Chara. Using her past experiences with Undyne, Chara expertly rolled under a wave of spears as she kept running forward.

Undyne was surprised. Not many could last long against her, especially those who were inexperienced against her. She brought up a wall of spears between herself and the hooligan to stop her advance, but Chara expected this. She dove to the side and went around the wall.

Undyne lost track of her as she retracted the wall. "Where the hell did y-"

She felt the dull impact of an object against the back of her head, before her vision went black. Her unconscious form hit the ground with a thud from Chara's attack. Chara had smashed the butt of her knife into Undyne's head, rendering her unconscious.

Chara stood there, looking at Undyne's form for a few moments as she took in some deep breaths to calm herself. Then, she remembered Frisk.

Chara ran over to Frisk's side, "Oh my god, Frisk! Are you alright?!"

Frisk mumbled something, which calmed down Chara a bit. She was alive, but she wasn't going to be walking. They couldn't just stay up on the roof, though. If Undyne found them up here, then more would probably join them soon.

Throwing Frisk's arm around her neck, Chara began to lead Frisk towards the ladder she had found. It took a couple minutes to reach it, but that was fine.

As they were almost there, Frisk began to stir. She looked up a bit, "Ch-chara?"

Chara smiled, "I'm here partner, I'm here. Don't worry, we're almost outta here." Frisk nodded as they reached the ladder.

Right as they made it to the ladder and the edge of the building Chara froze in place as her blue Soul appeared outside of her chest. She looked over at Frisk and saw she was in a similar state. Looking down, she saw the source of the blue magic.

Standing there was the other, male 'Chara', with his arms crossed and his smile fierce. Behind him were several officers, both human and monster, who held the two humans in place with blue magic. There was nothing they could do. No way to resist now.

Together, the officers lowered Frisk and Chara to the ground, but held them immobile. The adult Chara turned to an officer, "Please escort these criminals to the castle. I believe that this business must be settled with the Royal Family, personally."

The officer he spoke to nodded as he slapped a pair of handcuffs onto Frisk and Chara. Chara scowled at her counterpart, sending him a death stare as she put on her creepy face with a bit of black tar for good measure, to which he chuckled darkly.

"Please, if you're going to try to intimidate me… **don't try to use my face.** " He said, clearly unfazed by her display.

Prince Chara smiled as the two odd teenagers were loaded into the police car. It appeared to a be a slightly older version of Frisk and some sort of punk kid trying to imitate him, especially since she shared his name. Who were these kids? And why did they unsettle him so much?

Prince Chara shrugged as he walked away, towards his car. Guess he'll find out soon enough.

* * *

Papyrus stared at Frisk in confusion, before the dots connected in his head. It was like a puzzle, but more important and pressing then most of them were normally. "WAIT A MOMENT…" He finally said, stroking his chin as Frisk took a step back.

"YOU'RE NOT _MY_ FRISK." He finally announced, "AND I'M NOT YOUR PAPYRUS… OR, AT LEAST I THINK THAT'S RIGHT…"

"I… I don't underst-stand." Frisk stuttered, leaning up against the opposing wall as she held her head in her hands.

Papyrus nodded and looked to the side, "ME NEITHER, IF I'M BEING HONEST… BUT!" Papyrus turned back with a wide smile and an arm in the air, "I UNDERSTAND ENOUGH."

Frisk straightened her posture as she looked up at Papyrus, "Can you please explain to me what's going on?"

Papyrus nodded, "YES, WELL, YOU SEE… MY DAD, GASTER, BUILT A MACHINE TO LOOK AT OTHER TIMELINES, THEN HE BUILT A WAY TO SEE THEM AND GO TO THEM."

"T-timelines?" Frisk bent over a bit and held their head in their hands once more. "Th-this is real, r-right? I'm not having some sort of nervous breakdown, am I?"

Papyrus paused in confusion, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN? I THINK THIS IS REAL." He looked side-to-side, checking to see if everything looked real to him, which it did.

"ANYWAY, I WAS WATCHING NOT-YOU, ALEX, AND CHARA AFTER SCHOOL, BUT MY DAD'S MACHINE MALFUNCTIONED, PUTTING US HERE… I THINK."

Frisk shook her head and walked forward, away from Papyrus and out of the school. Papyrus followed her closely.

After a moment, she sighed and turned around, "I'm sorry Papyrus, but I'm not doing this stuff anymore. So please, just leave me alone."

"WHAT?" He asked, confused.

"This." She said, motioning to her surroundings, "I'm finally better now, and the last thing I need is more of these problems. I'm done with all of these timeline things. No more."

Papyrus frowned, "BUT FRISK! I NEED YOUR HELP. I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THESE WEIRD TIMELY LINES."

"I'm… sorry, but I can't help you." She finally said, turning her back to Papyrus.

"WELL… THE PRINCIPLE SAID SOMETHING ABOUT CHARA BEING AT THE CASTLE. COULD YOU AT LEAST POINT ME IN THAT DIRECTION?"

"I… well…" Frisk seemed conflicted.

Papyrus gently put a hand on her shoulder, "FRISK… PLEASE… IF WE REALLY ARE FRIENDS, HELP ME OUT."

"I…" Frisk sighed and bowed her head, "Alright, I guess I can help you out here... but then I want to be left alone."

"REALLY?!" Papyrus beamed, "WOWIE, THANKS FRISK!" He quickly wrapped the child up in another embrace.

"P-papyrus, you're crushing me…" She complained, making Papyrus set her back down on the ground gently. She brushed herself off a bit, "At least I know this is real now…"

"SO, WHERE'S THE CASTLE?" He asked, both standing outside in the parking lot.

Frisk pointed over Papyrus' shoulder, making him turn around. In the distance was a tall mountain: Mt. Ebott. On the side of the mountain was a large, beautifully constructed castle.

"OH, THAT CASTLE. WELL, THAT WAS EASY. NOW, LET'S GET GOING!"

"Wait. Us? As in both of us?"

"OF COURSE. THE GREAT PAPYRUS HAD BEEN TRUSTED TO WATCH OVER YOU TODAY."

"But I thought that was in your other world. Damn this is weird."

"TRUE, BUT YOUR PRINCIPLE TOLD ME TO TAKE CARE OF YOU TOO."

"Fine… We're going to take a bus or something though, right?"

"NYEH HEH HEH! WHY WOULD WE TAKE THE EASY WAY OUT? EXERCISE IS A MUST, DEAR FRISK."

"But Papyrus…" Frisk paused, trying to come up with a good excuse. "Don't you want to find them as soon as possible? A bus would be quicker than walking."

"YES!" Papyrus exclaimed before and idea hit him, "HOLD ON TIGHT, OTHER-FRISK!"

"Wait, wha-?" She tried asked as she was promptly picked up by Papyrus, before he sped off at a sprint toward the mountain and the castle built upon it.

The world went by in a series of blurs as Papyrus ran. Thanks to the years of training with Undyne, he'd almost gotten as fast as she is.

Unfortunately, no matter how great he may be, Undyne would likely always be the fastest. Especially since she was able to run from her house in Waterfall to his house in Snowdin in a matter of seconds. Even today, he's not sure how she was able to do that so fast.

Speaking of his friend Undyne, he saw her as he reached the base of the mountain road leading to the castle. He skidded to a stop as he arrived, surprising Undyne as she was speaking on the phone. For some reason, she had an icepack on top of her head.

"HELLO UNDYNE!" She jumped a bit in surprise.

"Papyrus? What're you doing down here?" She asked with a smile, before it became strained as she noticed Frisk in his arms.

After taking a deep breath to calm her heart rate from the run, Frisk looked at Undyne and noticed her angry look. "H-hey Undyne…" She said.

"Why do you have Frisk?" She asked, "She's supposed to be up in custody."

"CUSTODY? WHAT HAPPENED?" Papyrus asked, confused. Did Frisk do something? When? He's been with her the whole time… unless… maybe it was his version of Frisk. Bah, his head still couldn't fully wrap around this.

Undyne frowned at Frisk, "Go on punk, tell Papy here how you and your friend attacked the Prince AND the Royal Guard."

"Wh-what?! No I didn't!" She adamantly denied, "I've been stuck in school all day!"

Papyrus nodded, "I AGREE WITH FRISK, UNDYNE. MAYBE YOU WERE JUST MISTAKEN WITH THE TRUE PURPOTRATOR'S IDENTITY?"

Undyne shook her head, "There's no way Papyrus. Those two sweater-wearing hooligans attacked the Prince, ran away, damaged the MTT Mall, and gave me this fucking headache." She motioned toward the ice-pack.

Papyrus stroked his chin as he put Frisk down, "HMM… DO YOU THINK THE HIT TO YOUR HEAD MADE YOU MISREMEMBER EVERYTHING?"

"What? No! I remember everything perfectly."

"UNDYNE, YOU SAID YOU HAVE A HEADACHE? DID YOU PASS OUT FROM THE HIT?"

"Yes, but-"

"*GASP* YOU HAVE A CONCUSSION!"

"What?! No, I'm perfectly fine!"

Papyrus shakes his head, "NO UNDYNE, YOU ARE NOT ALRIGHT. CONCUSSIONS ARE SERIOUS. YOU SHOULD GO SEE A DOCTOR."

"Papyrus, my hit to the head has nothing to do with this! That punk is still guilty!"

"UNDYNE, I THINK YOU NEED TO CALM DOWN!"

"SHUT UP PAPYRUS!" She yelled, making Papyrus go immediately silent. "Look, I didn't mean to yell. I'm just frustrated. It's not every day some kids attack the prince and destroy private property."

"I… I UNDERSTAND UNDYNE, AND I HOPE YOU FIND THE ONES RESPONSIBLE FOR IT."

"Thanks… but she's one of them. Prince Chara has demanded that the two perpetrators be brought to the castle for questioning."

"THEN ALLOW ME, UNDYNE. I'LL TAKE HER UP THERE AND CLEAR THIS WHOLE THING UP."

Undyne flashed a toothy grin, "There you go Papyrus, that's using your skull!" Papyrus' eye socket twitched at this, but managed to halt any further of an outburst, "See you later… hey, what's up with your armor?" She asked, finally noticing that he was wearing his original battle body.

"OH, I SIMPLY DECIDED TO WEAR MY BATTLE BODY TODAY. IT IS, AFTER ALL, ONE OF MY MOST PRIZED OUTFITS!" Papyrus announced cheerfully. He hated to lie, but that wasn't technically lying. He DID choose to wear this today since it was one of his favorites, even if it had nothing to do with the 'armor' everyone was talking about.

Undyne nodded, looking it over from where she stood, "Damn, I forgot how cool it looked. And it's pretty durable, if I recall."

Papyrus nodded, "YES, IT IS COOL… AND LANGUAGE UNDYNE! NOT IN FRONT OF THE CHILD!" He exclaimed, while Frisk just shrugged it off indifferently.

"Oh, ok. You say something about 'damn', but 'fucking' is just fine."

"*GASP* UNDYNE!" He quickly put his mittens over Frisk's ears.

"Alright, sorry. Anyway, you should probably get going. The prince is going to wonder what happened to Frisk."

Papyrus quickly saluted, "YES MA'AM! OR SIR! OR-"

"Just get going Papyrus!"

"OK! BYE UNDYNE!"

Before he could warn Frisk again, he picked her back up and began to run up the mountain. Hopefully Undyne was right. By the way she explained the situation, it sounded like the other 'hooligan' was Chara, so if his Frisk and Chara were up there, then maybe Sans or his dad would be up there too.

Only one way to find out.


	5. The Anomalies

**Remember:** **Spoilers for Undertale, my story, and R.I.P Lynn's are contained within this story.**

 **If you'd rather not be spoiled in any of those three ways, please stop now and go read the other stories or play the game. (It's worth it!)**

 **If you need another reminder/overview of either of our stories, please go back to chapter one or two to check them out.**

 **Thanks again to R.I.P. Lynn for making this possible.**

 **Now, time to check on everyone!**

* * *

 **Chapter Five:** The Anomalies

It was supposed to be a nice, simple, relaxing day. So, why couldn't she just have ONE DAY?! Today, her loving boneheads had been there when she woke up at six in the morning. She had gone through all of her normal morning routines until around noon.

Gaster was going to go have a lunch with Grandpa Semi, so that freed up her time normally spent in lessons. (Although he certainly promised extra work to make up for today) Then, her parents and Asriel had been busy all morning in a meeting while Chara went to the Mall to collect a few things.

Honestly, she was excited. She'd be able to spend the day with the best skeletons in the world. That is, until they were called away by Gaster to go retrieve a few things for him. What utter bull crap! Now she was alone in the castle for a few hours… with nothing to do!

Well, that's not true. There are plenty of workers and such people in the castle, and she COULD be working on some of her work with Gaster. Unfortunately, she was in a kind of haze today. She just wished she had Sans or Papyrus with her today…

Today, though, had been pretty odd. Sometime close to noon, a sort of 'shock-wave' had hit her Soul. It felt kinda… static-y and weird, like something was trying to tell her something. She shrugged it off, however, seeing as how nothing had been exceptionally odd.

As she walked around the castle in boredom, she saw something that thoroughly confused her. It was… Sans?

He was standing in his usual outfit, but he also wore what appeared to be a lab coat over it. And, he was staring at the thrones in the throne room as if it were his first time seeing them. What was up with him? Shouldn't he be with Papyrus and Gaster right about now?

Suddenly, Sans shrugged a bit to himself as he muttered under his breath, just loud enough for Lynsie to hear it, _"welp, time to see if i can find fluffybuns."_

'Awww, was he looking for her?' She cleared her throat quietly before responding. However, something didn't feel right here, despite an inner voice telling her nothing was wrong.

"You know, I'm right here, Sansy~." She decided to tease him a bit.

He turned around to face her and looked her over so quickly she almost thought it was her imagination. She quickly took notice of his skull. It didn't seem weird or abnormal, but… something about it seemed almost unfamiliar. She recomposed herself, "Are you just going to stare at me punny bones?"

Sans smiled back, a bit brighter than before, as he shrugged, _"you know me fluffybuns, eye like to stare."_ He spoke playfully back, causing Lynn to blush as she looked away.

She chuckled inwardly. Why did he always have to call her such names? "Why Sans?" She asked, "There's a million things you could call me, yet you still choose to say that?" Honestly, it wasn't that big of a deal… as long as her family wasn't around to hear it, that is.

Sans continued his warm smile towards her, _"tibia honest, i find your reaction humerus. what would you rather me call you, then?"_ He asked.

Lynn had to think for a moment. It wasn't THAT big a deal. Finally, she shrugged, "I dunno. Maybe just Lynn?"

 _"meh, sounds like too much effort."_ He playfully responded while shrugging. Oh Sans, you and your laziness. _"so just lynn,…"_ She giggled and shook her head as he said that. Classic Sans. _"you seen paps around?"_ He finally asked.

Now Lynsie was confused. Wasn't he just with him? "Last I checked, he was still out, getting something for Gaster. Speaking of, weren't you with Papy too?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at the skeleton. What kind of excuse would he give this time?

Sans maintained his smile, although it became very slightly strained. Most people wouldn't catch that about Sans' façade, but she wasn't most people. What was he hiding? He then answered, _"well you know me, i can't stay away from the princess."_

Lynsie smiled and giggled a bit at his straightforwardness, "Of course, but do you really think that's fair to Papyrus?" She asked. Something seemed wrong.

Sans' smile relaxed a bit, _"i'll make it up to him later."_ He tried to reassure her.

Lynn couldn't help the smile that was forming. Maybe she'd get her wish after all, "Well then, shouldn't you accompany me? Royal Guardsman?"

Sans did a little bow, _"of course your highness."_

Lynsie smiled as she walked back out into the hall she came from, with Sans following closely behind. In response, she slowed her pace down a bit so that they could walk side-by-side.

"So Sansy~" She said with a grin, "What's up with the lab coat?" It was quite odd to him his wearing it. It's not that he's not intelligent, hell he's probably one of the smartest people she knows, but he hasn't worn one around the castle in ages.

Sans chuckled, _"is there a problem with havin' a hobby?"_

Lynsie smiled and shrugged in response, "I suppose not, just surprises me. That's all." Dodging the question, eh Sans?

They continued until they reached the preferred destination: Lynn's room. Sans turned and looked at Lynn questionably, _"so, what'cha doin' here?"_

Lynsie smirked playfully, "Maybe I'm just feeling a bit bonely?"

Sans let out a snort as he began to chuckle at her pun, _"that… that was beautiful."_ She could see the light blush on his face. Let's tease him a bit.

"I know I am, but what'd you think about the pun?"

Sans couldn't help the blue blush that erupted on his cheekbones. Lynsie could never get over how cute and vulnerable he looked like that. Still… something in her Soul told her that something was very, very wrong.

She turned and turned the doorknob, opening the door into her large room. It was just as it always was. The large, stone walled bedroom was just as magnificent as ever. Her large queen-sized bed laid in the center and the walls were still lined with the wonderful family photographs.

She caught Sans looking at each and every one of the pictures with curiosity. Something didn't seem right. "Sans? Are you feeling alright?" Her brow was creased with worry.

Sans shrugged, maintaining his calm façade as he replied, _"i'm perfectly fine. why?"_

She frowned, grabbing his hand and holding it between the two of hers, "You don't seem fine Sans. Please, you don't need to keep lying to me. Let me help you, please."

Sans stiffened at this, before breathing out a sad chuckle, _"sorry princess, just bone tired today."_ He admitted, _"today's just been one of those days, ya know?"_ Why'd he refer to her as 'princess'? Alright, something was definitely wrong now. He didn't seem to have memory loss… but…

Lynn let herself smile at him as she pulled Sans closer, wrapping him in a hug. "I understand Sans, but I'm here for you."

 _"i… i know lynn, i know… thanks."_

She nuzzled into Sans, growing comfortable in his hold. Unfortunately, Sans reacted in a way she didn't except. He suddenly sat up and pushed her off of him as he looked away. She didn't have to see his face to know that he was blushing heavily.

Nope, definitely not the reaction she was expecting. Something was very wrong here.

"Sans?"

Sans tried to recompose himself, as he took a deep breath and turned back around with another rock-solid façade. If she didn't know any better, she'd assume that she just imagined his negative reaction.

He let out a light chuckle, _"s-sorry lynsie, just a bit bone tired is all."_ He lied like it was nothing, then tried to change the subject, _"so, how's the princess duties been?"_

Oh hell no. There was no way she was going to let Sans get away with that without an explanation. Lynn stared at Sans' chest, directly where his Soul would be as she looked at his stats for any clues.

She gasped as she took in the sight. The stats were all fine, but his Soul was all wrong. His normal white monster Soul with a small amount of blue to it was completely different. Instead, it was almost a solid dark blue color, yet remained upside down. There were, what appeared to be, cracks and burn marks on his Soul too, but they looked to be old wounds.

"Sans, what the hell happened to your Soul?"

Sans shook his head, _"i dunno what you mean lynn, what's wrong with it?"_ She could see the sweat starting to form on his skull. He was getting nervous, and she was getting closer to the truth.

Lynn narrowed her eyes at the skeleton, "Don't lie to me Sans. Answer me, why does your Soul look damaged, burnt, and a solid blue?"

 _"i dunno if i have the integrity to lie to ya."_ He joked, but she wasn't having any of it.

"Wait a moment…" She began to think to herself for a moment, piecing together all of the clues. Sans seemed off, wore a lab coat, had a different Soul, didn't know where Papy was, seemed confused with his surroundings… Was this Sans? Time to ask him a few questions to see.

"Sansy~" She said, gaining his full attention, "Do you remember when we first met?" She tested him.

He shrugged, _"ya mean in the underground?"_ He replied, to which Lynn nodded. This is a good first sign. _"the whole thing with the lamp, paps, and the whoopee cushion, right? that was great."_

Ok, so this narrowed down some possibilities. He knew about the Underground, so if it were some sort of imposter trying to impersonate Sans to get close to her, they wouldn't have known that.

Lynsie smiled, "Yeah, it was nice to meet my pun buddy."

Sans chuckled and rubbed the back of his head, _"yeah, it was."_ He wasn't off the hook yet. Something still felt off.

"What do you think about Frisk?"

 _"she's a good kid. not my type, if that's what you're asking."_ He responded coolly.

Generalized and concise with a joke at the end… good move 'Sans'. That cleared up absolutely nothing.

"What about Chara? How do you feel about them?" She tested again. She remembered he had quite a bad impression on him for the longest time, but not without good reason.

Sans shrugged, _"she's cool too. the red eyes were kinda scary at first, but she doesn't seem as bad as she did before."_

Lynn smiled and nodded, "Yeah, I-", Then she froze mid-sentence. She? But… Chara's not a she, he's a he. Sans should know this… he's always known this. "Sans?"

She could see the fear within his eye sockets. It was the fear of someone who just realized that they fucked up. _"y-yeah lynn?"_

Though she'd rather not do this, she didn't know if this 'Sans' could teleport or not, so it was necessary. She reached out and held Sans in place as gravity overcame his Soul.

"Who are you?" She asked calmly as he laid on the bed against his will.

 _"hey, hey, hey. calm it down a bit there, princess."_ He said quickly.

"Answer skeleton. Now." She said with a neutral expression.

 _"uh… so, ever heard of the multiverse theory?"_

Lynsie froze, staring at 'Sans' in shock when he said that. "Yes. What of it?"

 _"knock knock"_

She couldn't believe he was doing this right now, but went along with it, "Who's there?"

 _"sans"_

"Sans who?"

 _"sans two."_ He said, his fingers closed with two digits up to emphasize the number. His face wore a forced grin.

"What?" She paused, "You're… you're from another, alternate world?"

Sans nodded as his eye sockets widened ever-so-slightly, _"wow... you actually believe me?"_

Lynise nodded, "It's not that far-fetched." She acknowledged, "Just unexpected."

'Sans' nodded in agreement, _"i getcha. it's not everyday someone appears from another timeline. sorry for dropping in unannounced, but these things happen."_

She tilted her head in curiosity, "What do you mean by that?"

 _"i'd be delighted to elaborate, princess, but it seems i'm a little stuck here."_

She looked deep into his eye sockets, "You're not going to run if I let you go, right?"

He shrugged, _"nah, but i probably coulda left the whole time. blue magic doesn't stop shortcuts. or, at least my shortcuts anyway."_ He said with a chuckle, as his Soul was released and he was able to sit up. _"thanks a ton. a skeleton."_ He finished with a grin.

Lynsie couldn't help the small laugh that escaped her, "You sound just like Sans. So, you're another Sans from another timeline?" She asked curiously.

He nodded, _"yep, pretty neat huh?"_

"What'd you mean by dropping in unannounced just happens?"

Sans let out a laugh, chuckling for a few seconds before recomposing himself, _"you see, our adventures haven't been very… consistent."_

"Meaning?"

 _"we've dropping into all sorts of places accidentally, but never a place like this."_

"What do you mean by 'we'?"

Sans started counting out people with his fingers, _"let's see, there's me(one) and gaster(two). we built the device with alphys and use it the most often. then, there's frisk(three), alex(four), chara(five), and Asriel(six) who come to the lab often and use it sometimes. and, once or twice, undyne(seven), papyrus(eight), and verdana(nine)."_

Lynsie recognized most of their names, but two of them confused her. Who was Alex and who was Verdana? Sans seemed to pick up on this.

 _"verdana's my little sis. one adventure led to us finding her, a little skele with no home. g took her in and now i got two younger siblings."_

She nodded and smiled, "That's so nice of Gaster to do that. Now he has three little siblings to worry about." She teased.

" _what?"_ Sans asked.

"You know, Gaster. Your brother?"

Sans broke into laughter, unable to control himself as he rolled around a bit. _"my… my brother?"_ He asked as he tried to calm down. _"n-no, he's our dad. hehe, that's great though. i can't imagine myself as not the oldest."_

Before Lynsie could ask another question, she heard a knock at her door. A very familiar knock.

*knock, knock.

"Who's there?" Lynn responded.

"ya."

"Ya who?"

"hehe, i'm excited to see you too, mind if i come in?"

"REALLY SANS? CAN'T YOU JUST KNOCK LIKE A NORMAL MONSTER FOR ONCE."

"hehe, sorry bro."

Lynsie flinched upon hearing the voices of the two skeletons on the other side of the door. Looking over at 'Sans', she noticed his eye sockets were dark. Before Lynsie could try to make up some sort of excuse to prevent them from coming in, the door was already open.

Both Guardsmen froze and stared at the human and skeleton. Their jaws hung ajar as they tried to process what they were seeing. Lynsie, their human, sitting on her bed beside another monster. And not just any monster, but one that looked almost identical to Sans.

"S-sugarskulls, it's not what it looks like." Lynsie tried to say quickly to calm them down.

The Sans beside her shrugged despite his situation. _"welp, looks like i'm pretty boned."_

Sans promptly flew through the air, before hitting the opposing wall at a higher-than-necessary velocity, rendering him immobile and unconscious. Lynsie looked between the three skeletons in shock.

Her Sans held his hand out toward the other one as his eye glowed with his blue flame, proving that he was the one who struck first.

They all remained in silence for a moment before Papyrus interrupted, "WHAT JUST HAPPENED?" Honestly, Lynsie wasn't entirely sure herself…

* * *

It happened again, and it's only getting worse.

Alex woke up, leaning against a brick wall in some sort of alleyway. He held his head in his hands and pulled his knees to his chest as he tried to slow his heart-rate.

The nightmares were getting worse and more prevalent. It's almost become a daily occurrence now. He'd either sleep or be unable to do so, then have a nightmare, and then… sometimes… just thinking about it sent shivers up his spine.

He was just glad that no one has caught on yet. Frisk was starting to become suspicious, and he hated lying to her about his problems… but they were HIS problems, and he was the one who had to deal with them. Why drag other people into it? It'd just hurt them.

For the last year or so, his nightmares have been plaguing him, occasionally translating into flashbacks during the day. The adventures… the fun… the pain… it's all added up and accumulated over time, and it only seemed to be getting worse.

Then, to top it all off, he'd been thrown into another, alternate timeline where he would be, once again, reminded that he was a mistake, an anomaly that was never meant to be.

But Alex's self-loathing could wait. Now was the time for action. He needed to find the others. He was one of the furthest people from the blast, so if he'd ended up here, then that probably meant that Frisk and Chara, and probably a few of the skeletons had ended up here too.

Alex pushed himself up and stood in place, before proceeding toward some sort of sidewalk and road at the end of the alley. Looking around, he could see Mt. Ebott nearby with a castle on it. He appeared to be in some sort of small city at the base of the mountain.

He needed to find help if he wanted to have a chance of finding anyone. That's one plus about being an anomaly. There's no way he'd be mistaken for someone else, so he didn't have to try to act a certain way or lie about who he was.

Looking up and down the street, he found a familiar sign on the side of a building. It was an orange, neon sign reading "Grillby's". That'd be as good of a place to start as any.

Walking down the street only took a minute, before Alex arrived and entered the eating establishment. Looking around confirmed that this was, indeed, Grillby's establishment. Said bartender was cleaning a glass as several recognizable patrons continued to enjoy their meal. The place looked fairly similar to how it always looked, which was a good sign. This world must be pretty similar to his own.

Feeling a rumble in his stomach and the beginnings of hunger pains, Alex decided that a meal was in his future as he also tried to learn about his current predicament. Slowly, he walked forward and sat at one of the bar-stools, smiling warmly at the familiar bartender.

Grillby nodded, acknowledging Alex's presence, as he put down the glass to listen to the customer's order.

"Hey Grillby, I'll take an order of burg and fries, please."

Grillby nodded silently as he turned to prepare the food in the back.

As Alex waited for him, he got up off of his seat and took a look at the jukebox in the corner. Remarkably, it was in perfect working order. He spent the next few minutes looking through the song list, before giving up and returning to his seat.

It wasn't that Grillby didn't have a good selection of songs, but no song stood out to him, and he wasn't willing to waste any gold if he was going to be stuck here for an extended period of time.

As Alex continued to wait, he began to try to come up with a plan. Grillby, most certainly, had met Frisk in this world, considering they were on the surface, meaning a true-pacifist ending MUST have occurred most recently. Perhaps Grillby could point him in the right direction?

After a few more minutes, Grillby returned with the hot food, placing his legendary food before Alex. Alex, mouthwatering, thanked Grillby, placed the required amount of gold on the counter, and began to dig in. It was just as good as he remembered.

As the last of the burger was eaten, Alex grabbed a nearby bottle of ketchup in order to add it to his fries. Unfortunately, Sans must've been a regular here, because his name was written all over the bottle, whose contents and cap now laid all over his fries and the bar. Alex could hear Grillby sighing as he proceeded to clean up the mess.

"Sorry about that Grillby, it seems that someone unscrewed the cap."

Grilbby nodded as he cleaned up the rest of the mess, which gave Alex an idea. Sans was smart. And if anyone in this timeline was going to believe that he was not from here AND be willing to help, it'd probably be Sans.

"Hey Grillby, do you happen to know where Sans is right now?" Alex asked, not very discreetly.

Grillby turned to look Alex, raising a bit of an eyebrow of flames, and shrug his shoulders.

Alex sighed and got off of his stool, "Alright, then I'll be leaving then. See ya Gr- ", Alex paused as Grillby reached out and grabbed Alex's wrist. Alex's eyes went wide with surprise as he turned back around.

Grillby was looking directly into Alex's eyes, as if he was trying to tell him something. Perhaps he was speaking, and Alex didn't hear him?

Alex's heart-rate began escalating as he felt the searing heat of Grillby's flames, burning and meting the flesh on his arm as the flames threatened to spread. Alex's eyes darted to his arms to see them engulfed in a combination of orange, blue, and pale grey flames. The world around him had faded into black and white as the snowstorm threatened to send him into shock in combination with the fire.

He looked back up to see the emotionless, blank expression on Grillby's face stare into Alex's Soul as the flames burned hotter and hotter. Alex let out a grunt of pain as he tried to hide the extreme discomfort. He needed to get out of here. Now was not the time to fight!

Alex yanked his arm out of Grillby's grasp and immediately felt the numbing relief of the snowstorm attempt to cool down his third-degree burns. Alex's eyes were filled with fear and his Soul began to darken as he ran away from Grillby as fast as he could.

He continued running, ignoring the stings from the snow harshly pelting him as he ran, desperately trying to find a place to escape to. A place to hide out so that he could heal his burns, which, oddly enough, didn't really bother him anymore.

Alex was out of breath and stamina as he fell against a stone wall and slid down to the ground and curling into a ball as he cried into his arms. The sobbing only worsened when he no longer felt the cold and the burns were nothing more than a memory.

…It happened again… And it was much worse than ever before.

Alex gave himself a few minutes to calm down before he looked around himself. He was sitting in some sort of alleyway again. There were no burns on his skin. There was no snowstorm. Grillby wasn't out to get him right now… Oh god… What would Grillby think? He just had a meltdown and flashback in front of him! There's no way he could go back and try to get the information now. If he returned, Grillby would likely call the authorities, and that would not be a good thing.

Alex took a deep breath and wiped the tears from his eyes as he tried to come up with another plan. He couldn't just hide in this alley until one of his friends found him! What if they were in danger? He had to do something.

Go to the castle and ask the King or Queen for help? No way! They'd never believe him, and it'd only land him in hotter water. What then? Maybe if he could locate the Sans or Frisk of this world, but he'd need to find some way to figure out where they were.

Taking another deep breath, Alex walked toward the end of the alleyway and looked around, before walking in the opposite direction of Grillby's. Perhaps Muffet or the Nice Cream Man was around here somewhere?

Soon enough, he saw a large tower nearby. The side of it was adorned with three letters: "MTT". A hotel, most likely. A perfect lead!

If Mettaton was here, then he'd be able to help without a doubt. If not, perhaps Burgerpants or someone else could help him instead. Hell, maybe even Sans might show up here to do a comedy show or something. Who knew? But first, he had to get there.

Next stop, Mettaton's Hotel.

* * *

 ** _Author's Note:_**

 ** _Hey Guys, turns out I'm not dead..._**

 ** _Anyway, I've been overburdened, undetermined, and burned out. Simply put, I've had neither time, nor energy, nor drive to write over the last month or so due to various things such as school, family, and others. However, I've managed to write this chapter and I've been working on it slowly over the last short while. So, hope you liked it and you look forward to more. I can't promise when the next several uploads will be, but I'll try to do, at least, a few other chapters this month._**

 ** _Thanks for the support and for reading this silly little story. Wish me luck, and if you like this story, please give me feedback, follow it, favorite, and maybe even tell everyone else about it.  
_**

 ** _Stay Determined!_**

 ** _-swr_**


	6. Welcome to the Party

**Remember:** **Spoilers for Undertale, my story, and R.I.P Lynn's are contained within this story.**

 **If you'd rather not be spoiled in any of those three ways, please stop now and go read the other stories or play the game. (It's worth it!)**

 **If you need another reminder/overview of either of our stories, please go back to chapter one or two to check them out.**

 **Thanks again to R.I.P. Lynn for making this possible.**

 **Now, time to check on everyone!**

* * *

 **Chapter Six:** Welcome to the Party.

Gaster entered his lab with a sigh. Boy had it been a long day.

Lunch with Grandpa Semi had gone pretty well, all things considered. After talking for hours, much longer than the originally intended lunch, it was time to get back to the lab.

Sometime, about a quarter of the through the lunch, he'd called his younger brothers to retrieve a few things from his house for grandpa Semi (although it was mostly pictures). His parents, Calibiri and Lucida, were there too for the first half, so the entire skeleton family was together in one place for a while. Sigh… those kinds of get-togethers occurred far too rarely.

Anyway, now that everything was taken care of it was time to get back to work. It was odd… part way through the Lunch, he'd received an automated message on his phone, telling him that there was a supposed error in the timeline system, but it wasn't very alarming. Quite frankly, that thing's been pretty buggy for years.

Gaster walking in through the front entrance to his lab and smiled at his security system. A recent advance that never would have happened in the Underground. He smiled to himself as he remembered the many technological advances he'd been responsible for. The Core, his greatest invention, was even getting rebuilt and upgraded by a nearby volcanic vent.

As he walked through the door-frame, his smile soon vanished.

 **SCANNING SOUL…**

 **MONSTER SOUL DETECTED…**

 **LOADING SOUL DATA…**

 **LOGGING ERROR: SAME SOUL SIGNATURE USED FOR ENTRY TWICE.**

 **ACCESS DENIED.**

Gaster's smiled faded instantly and his eye sockets narrowed at the monitor. This has never happened before. He turned toward the monitor, reaching out and holding down the command button beside it.

"👍 💣💣✌ 👎 👍 👎 ✞ ✋👎 🖳 🕈 ✋ 👎✋ " (COMMAND CODE OVERRIDE: WINGDING)

 **OVERRIDE CODE: ACCEPTED.**

 **LOCK-DOWN ENDED. ACCESS GRANTED.**

 **WELCOME BACK DOCTOR GASTER.**

Gaster, however, was not pleased. His system has not encountered such an error since its prototype phase. Something has gone very, very wrong. As the doors slid open, he stared at Alphys as her back was toward him.

"✌ 🏱 ✡💧📪 🕈 ✌❄ ❄ ✋💧 ✋ ✍✏" (ALPHYS, WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!)

She panicked at his sudden voice and dropped whatever she was holding, which stopped midair as Gaster used his magic to prevent the glass from making it to the ground.

"D-Doctor Gaster? What's wr-wrong?" Alphys asked, grabbing the beaker from the air and placing it back down on the counter.

"🕈 ✌❄🕯💧 🕈 ✍ ✌ 🏱 ✡💧📪 ❄ 💧 👍🕆 ✋❄✡ 💧✡💧❄ 💣 ✌💧 💧🕆 👎 ✌ ✌❄✌ 📬 ✋❄ 👍 ✌✋💣 👎 ❄ ✌❄ ✋ 🕈 ✌💧 👍🕆 ❄ ✡ 👎 ✋ 👎 💧🏱 ✋❄ 💣 ✡ 🏱 ✞✋ 🕆💧 ✌👌💧 👍 🕈 ✋❄ 💣✡ ✌💣✋ ✡📬" (WHAT'S WRONG? ALPHYS, THE SECURITY SYSTEM HAS SUFFERED A FATAL ERROR. IT CLAIMED THAT I WAS CURRENTLY LOGGED IN DESPITE MY PREVIOUS ABSENCE WITH MY FAMILY.)

"R-really? Th-that's odd…" She paused, looking toward his office for some reason. "I… I thought you h-had canceled the l-lunch because of th-the error in the system."

Gaster looked at her strangely. "✌ 👎 🕈 ✡ ✌ ❄ 🕈 🕆 👎 ✡ 🕆 ❄ ✋ 😐 ❄ ✌❄✍" (AND WHY ON EARTH WOULD YOU THINK THAT?)

"Y-You showed up hours a-ago, t-telling me to r-reboot the system a-as you began to s-search for the origin of th-the problem."

Gaster only looked even more confused. He turned toward his office and looked inside, finding not a sign of another person.

"✌ ✡ 🕆 ✌ ✋ ❄ ✌ 🏱 ✡💧✍" (ARE YOU ALRIGHT ALPHYS?)

She looked inside the office and gasped as she noticed that there really was no one inside. "B-but I… I s-swear!" She made eye contact with Gaster, "I know wh-what I saw. G-go check the computer l-logs and you'll see."

Gaster sighed and shrugged, "✞ ✡ 🕈 📬 👎 ❄ 👎✋💧❄🕆 👌 💣 🕈 ✋ ✋ 🕈 😐📬" (VERY WELL. DO NOT DISTURB ME WHILE I WORK.)

Gaster entered his office and closed the door behind him as he sat down at his desk. He put his hand on the pad as it signed him in and he pulled up the sign-in logs. Guess Alphys was confused or so-…

 **LAST LOGGED IN 3 MINUTES AGO.**

"🕈 ✌❄ ❄ 🕆 📫" (WHAT THE FU-)

Suddenly, the doctor heard the door close itself fully as he looked up. Standing before him was another skeleton, matching himself in shape and appearance. He even wore a lab coat, which seemed to have seen better days.

His doppelgänger spoke, **_"PLEASE DOCTOR, DON'T MAKE A SCENE IN FRONT OF ALPHYS. WE BOTH KNOW HER ANXIETY WOULD ONLY MAKE THINGS WORSE."_**

Despite the situation he was in, Gaster remained calm as he sat back in his chair at his desk. His hands clenched into fists under his desk as he prepared to summon a set of Gaster Blasters at the first sign of danger.

"✌ ✋ ❄… ✌ 👎 🕈 💣✋ ❄ ✡ 🕆 👌 📪 🏱 ✌✡ ❄ ✍" (ALRIGHT… AND WHO MIGHT YOU BE, PRAY TELL?)

 ** _"I WOULD IMAGINE THAT AN INTELLIGENT MONSTER LIKE US WOULD MAKE THE CONNECTION RATHER QUICKLY."_** The lookalike took a deep breath before continuing, **_"❄ ✞ ✋👎 ✞ ✌ 💧 💣✌ ✡ 🕈 👎 💧📪 👎 👍❄ 📬_** ** _" (THE VOID REVEALS MANY WONDERS, DOCTOR.)_**

Gaster let out a chuckle as he looked at the alternate before him. Wingdings? That narrows possibilities down quite a bit, " ✞✋👎 👍 ❄ 💣🕆 ❄✋✞ 💧 ✍ ✡ 🕆 ✌ 💣 📪 💣 ✌ ❄ ✌ ✋❄✡✍" (EVIDENCE OF THE MULTIVERSE? YOU ARE ME, FROM ANOTHER REALITY?)

The alternate Gaster nodded, **_"YES. WE HAVE MUCH TO DISCUSS." "✌ 👎 💣🕆 👍 ❄ ✌✋ 💣 👍 🏱 ✌❄✋ 📬_** ** _" (AND MUCH TO GAIN FROM COOPERATION.)_**

Gaster smiled and nodded, standing up and offering his hand toward the other. The other agreed and they shook.

"✡ 🕆 ✌✞ 📪 ✋ 👎 👎📪 🏱 ✌😐 👎 💣✡ ✋ ❄ 💧❄…" (YOU HAVE, INDEED, PEAKED MY INTEREST…)

* * *

Lynsie watched as the alternate Sans began to regain consciousness. For 'safety reasons', he'd been tied to a chair using nano-inhibitor technology to prevent any magic usage. Her eldest brother and her parents had recently returned home and demanded that he be brought to the throne room to be questioned.

Now, with her parents on the throne, her skeletons by her sides, and her brother next to her as well, they all grew quiet as the skeleton in question woke up.

 _"ouch… man, i feel like i had one too many drinks last night…"_ He muttered loud enough for everyone to hear. After a moment, he realized where he was. He looked at everyone in the room before he spoke again.

 _"lemme guess, tori and gory."_ He started, looking at the King and Queen, _"lynsie, me, and paps."_ He maintained eye contact with her for a split second longer than with the others, _"and petal boy."_ He finished with a tease directed as Asriel, who didn't seem to appreciate the comment.

"Skeleton, explain yourself at once." Asgore demanded.

Sans shrugged with a grin, _"wasn't much of a biology major, but i'm pretty sure i'm made of bones and magic."_ He joked, making Asgore less than happy.

"you know what he meant, lookalike." The Sans beside Lynsie said darkly, "who are you and what do you want."

 _"let's see… I'd like all of the stuff you confiscated from me."_ He started, feeling the emptiness of his pockets, _"and I'm here because of… would you believe me if i said it was a glitch in the matrix?"_

"BE SERIOUS OTHER-SANS!" The other Papyrus said, clearly unamused.

"What kind of things did he have on him?" The Queen asked.

"a bottle of grillby's ketchup… a handful of cold hotcats… and empty syringe… and a jar of… honey?" Sans asked, confused by this final item especially.

The tied-up Sans shrugged, _"truth bee told, hi've grown rather fond of it."_ He couldn't help his proud grin form at his masterpiece of a response.

"GAH, REALLY OTHER-SANS? I NEVER THOUGHT THESE PUNS COULD GET WORSE!"

 _"you better beelieve it paps."_ He said. This time he got a muffled laugh from the Queen, who was trying hard not to give in. Sans remained serious despite his affinity for puns, and Lynsie managed to not laugh.

 _"damn, tough crowd."_

"Sans…" Lynsie began, gaining the prisoner's attention, "Please tell us the truth. Who are you and why are you here?"

Sans tilted his skull a bit as he thought, _"wait. before i even try to explain princess, mind telling me how much they'll understand?"_

"Enough." She replied.

Sans shrugged, _"alright…"_ He let out a sigh, _"so, let's start with a question. who here knows about timelines?"_

You could hear a pin drop on the other side of the throne room with the silence that now permeated it. All eyes were on the intruder. After a few moments of silence, a few began to respond.

"The timelines? I haven't heard anything about them since the change."

"MORE TIMELINE TROUBLES?"

"buddy… what are you getting at here?"

Sans sighed, _"excellent. everyone knows about the timelines… now, who knows the multiverse theory?"_

The Sans beside Lynsie began to tremble slightly as his sockets went dark. "what?"

 _"yeah, you know. specifically, the many-worlds theory. it's the idea that everything that could have possibly happened, but didn't, actually did in some other universe."_

"Are you trying to tell us that you're from another, alternate universe?" King Asgore asked.

The Sans beside Lynsie shook his head as he recomposed himself, "but… that's not possible. alternate universes aren't able to interact with one another."

 _"not if you learn how to properly manipulate the time-space fabric of reality and the inter-dimensional barriers."_

"Alright, this is getting ridiculous." Asriel interrupted. "I've lived through alternate timelines, but what you're suggesting is insane."

 _"c'mon kiddo, even you have to admit the possibility is asriel as can be."_ The alternate Sans teased, once more earning a glare from the prince.

"So, you're saying it isn't?" He countered, not believing a word from the skeleton.

"Enough you two." Lynsie interrupted. "Other Sans… can you prove to us that you're from another timeline?"

 _"hmmm…"_

Asriel crossed his arms, "At a loss of a good excuse?"

Suddenly, the doors on the far side of the room swung open as another person came into the room. "Mom. Dad." A new, male voice announced.

Lynsie smiled as she watched Chara come in. Looks like someone joined the party at last. "Brother, you've joined us at last."

"Not now sister, I've got important news." He announced as he stepped forward, before jumping in shock when he noticed the second Sans sitting in the chair beside him. "What the hell?"

 _"sup."_

Chara stared at him for a moment, before looking up to the other Sans. "There's two of them."

"Chara, what's going on?" Toriel asked.

Chara looked confused for a moment before he shook himself from his surprise and responded, "I was attacked at the mall today." He informed them. They all looked shocked. Sans could see the flames of rage within each of the Dreemurrs' eyes.

"Who would DARE lay a hand on my child?" Toriel asked, her rage barely controlled.

"One of them was Frisk." He said sadly. "The other was some girl with her, but they're both in custody. I'll have them brought in."

Sans began to chuckle in his seat, gaining everyone's attention.

"What's so funny comedian?"

 _"oh… it's nothing. just thought of a good joke."_

"Son, bring them in." Asgore said. Chara smiled and nodded as he signaled the guards at the door.

They responded and led in the two perpetrators. They were both bound by ropes that prevented their use of magic as they were led down the path to the thrones, forced to kneel right beside Sans' chair.

Sans looked to his right and looked at Chara and Frisk, both looking down at the ground beneath them. Chara looked like she was seething with rage, while Frisk looked embarrassed. Poor kiddos. Time to cheer them up.

 _"sup kiddos."_

"Sans!" They both said in surprise, looking to their left and smiling at him.

 _"yup, in the not-flesh."_ They both giggled at his joke, confusing the onlookers.

"AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO'S STILL CONFUSED?"

"wait a minute…"

Sans nodded, motioning toward his captors, _"frisk, chara, meet the royal dreemurr family."_

They both looked up and looked them over as everyone else did a double take. Chara's and Asriels' cocky smiled faded quick as everything began to click.

Lynsie couldn't help the laugh that escaped her, "So Chara, brother dearest, you were assaulted and attacked… by yourself?"

"That's not funny Lynn!" He countered, face quickly growing red.

 _"hehe, nice job kiddos. you get arrested?"_

Frisk frowned, "Yeah. Chara attacked the Prince and Undyne."

"Yeah, but it looked like he was going to hurt you!"

"don't worry bro, i'm confused too."

Frisk looked up and made eye contact with Lynsie. She turned back to Chara with a grin and whispered something. Chara immediately shook her head, "Don't you dare Frisk…"

Frisk looked back up and smiled cutely at Lynsie, "Are you a kidnapper? Because you just abducted my heart?"

Lynsie immediately began to blush, as her two skeletons immediately stepping in front of her.

"sorry pal, she's taken."

"LEAVE LYNSIE OUT OF THIS."

"Frisk, what's your problem?" Chara said, glaring at her sister.

"H-hey, it worked before to get us out of dire situations."

"A. That was in the Underground against Monsters. B. I never approved, even back then. C. You never did it to someone in a relationship. D. You didn't have a boyfriend back then."

"W-wait, you have a boyfriend?" Lynsie asked, recovering from her blush.

Frisk looked away as the blush spread to her, "Y-yeah…" She admitted.

"Alright, that's it." Asriel said annoyed, "We're not getting anywhere. Lynsie, why don't you call up Gaster. He'd certainly know what to do."

"You're right brother, I'll give him a call."

Lynsie pulled out her phone and dialed his number, before setting it to the speaker setting so everyone could hear. It rang for a few seconds without an answer, before he finally picked up.

Everyone listened carefully as they tried to get help from the smartest monster in the world.

* * *

"… 👎 ❄ 💧 👌 ✌ ✌ ❄ ✌💧✋ 👌✌❄❄ 🕈 ✋❄ 💣 ❄❄✌❄ ✌ 👎 ✋💧 🕈 👌 👎✡📬 ✡ 🕆 💧 🕆 👎🕯✞ 💧 🕈 ❄ ❄✌✋ ✋ ✋❄ 🕈 ✌💧📬" (…ND THEN SHE BEGAN A TEASING BATTLE WITH METTATON AND HIS NEW BODY. YOU SHOULD'VE SEEN HOW ENTERTAINING IT WAS.)

 ** _"HAHAHA, THAT SOUNDS AMAZING."_** Gaster said with a wide grin, **_"YOU SHOULD'VE SEEN ALEX AND UNDYNE AGAINST METTATON. THEY DANCED LIKE NO TOMORROW. EVEN WITH METTATON'S PROCESSING POWER I COULDN'T KEEP UP WITH THEIR MOVES."_**

Both Gasters laughed as they exchanged accounts of their own timelines. Seems many things tended to stay constant, including Mettaton.

As they sat there talking in the privacy of Gaster's office, his phone began to ring. This timeline's Gaster looked down and did a double take.

"💧 ✋❄📪 ✋❄🕯💧 ✡ 💧✋ 📬" (SHIT, IT'S LYNSIE.)

The other Gaster chuckled, **_"JUST MAKE UP AN EXCUSE, IT'S PROBABLY NOTHING."_**

"✌ ✋ ❄📬 🕈 ✌ ✌ ✋💧❄ ✋ ✍" (ALRIGHT. WANNA LISTEN IN?)

 ** _"OF COURSE."_** He said with a smile. He was so relieved to find that this alternate Gaster was fairly reasonable and nice, yet still highly intelligent. Even if they were trapped here for a bit, with the way the other Gaster had described this world, it wouldn't be too bad to be here for a bit.

Gaster nodded as he answered the phone, putting it on speaker.

" ✡ 💧✋ 📪 ✋🕯💣 ✌ 👌✋❄ 👌🕆 💧✡ ✋ ❄ 🕈📬 👍 🕆 👎 ✡ 🕆 👍✌ 💣 👌✌👍😐 ✌❄ ✍ ✞ 🕈 ✌✋❄ 🕆 ❄✋ 🕆 💧💧 💧 ❄ 💣 🕈 ✍" (LYNSIE, I'M A BIT BUSY RIGHT NOW. COULD YOU CALL ME BACK LATER? OR EVEN WAIT UNTIL OUR LESSONS TOMORROW?)

"Gaster, listen, this is important." Her voice came over. It seemed a bit louder than normal. Perhaps she was on speaker as well. "We need your expert… expertise."

Gaster sighed and gave in. This sounded important, so might as well hear her out and try to help. "✌ ✋ ❄📪 🕈 ✌❄ 👎 ✡ 🕆 👎 ❄ 😐 🕈 ✍" (ALRIGHT, WHAT DO YOU NEED TO KNOW?)

"Well, we wanted to know about the possibilities of alternate universes interacting and crossing over."

Gaster's mouth hung open in shock at the question as his alternate motioned for him to say something. "✌📫✌ 👎 🕈 ✡ ✌ ✡ 🕆 ✌💧😐✋ ✌👌 🕆 ❄ 💧🕆 👍 ❄ ✋ 💧✍ 👎✋👎 💧 💣 ❄ ✋ ✌🏱🏱 ✍" (A-AND WHY ARE YOU ASKING ABOUT SUCH THINGS? DID SOMETHING HAPPEN?)

 _"sup dad, how's it hanging. i'm kinda tied up at the moment."_ Sans?

"OTHER-SANS, STOP WITH THE INTERRUPTIONS! AND WHO'S THIS 'DAD'?" Definitely Papyrus.

"heya g, mind answering the question." Sans? Two of them?

"C'mon Wingding, we need answers. Now." That sounded like Prince Chara.

Gaster had frozen at being called 'dad', and had simply began to draw blanks on how to respond. His alternate motioned for him to continue while mouthing out a few words: 'let me talk.' Gaster hesitantly nodded and kept quiet.

Gaster's alternate cleared his throat, loud enough for everyone to hear, and responded, **_"💧 ✡📪 ✋ 💧❄ 💧✋ ✌ ❄ 📬 👎✋👎 ✋ ✌ ❄ ✌❄ ✋ ❄✍ ❄ ✌❄ 💧 🕆 👎 👎 ✋😐 ❄🕈 💧✌ 💧 💧📬_** ** _"_** ** _(SORRY, I LOST SIGNAL THERE. DID I HEAR THAT RIGHT? THAT SOUNDED LIKE TWO SANSES.)_**

Lynsie's voice responded, "Yes. He claims that he and a few others had come from another, alternate version of reality."

 ** _" ❄ 💧✍ 🕈 💧 ✋💧 ❄ ✍_** ** _" (OTHERS? WHO ELSE IS THERE?)_**

"Hey Doctor, we're in a bit of a pickle." A young, female voice answered, who he recognized as Chara.

"Yeah, Chara assaulted the Prince and got us arrested." And that was certainty Frisk.

Gaster's alternate couldn't help but smile. To remove Gaster's confusion, he mouthed out 'Chara and Frisk'.

 ** _"❄ ✌❄🕯💧 ✌ ✍ 💧 ✍_** ** _" (THAT'S ALL? NO ONE ELSE?)_**

"No, just these three. Why? Are you expecting more?" Lynsie asked curiously.

"Wait a moment… Is there something you're not telling us doctor?" Prince Chara responded angrily.

Suddenly, the door to Gaster's office opened and Alphys stood in the doorway in shock, staring at the two Gasters sitting there.

"EEEEEKK!" Alphys began to scream, before Gaster jumped into action and summoned an extra hand to cover her mouth as he held one of his hands over his mouth in a 'shushing' motion.

"What was that? Was that Alphys? Is she alright?" Lynsie quickly asked, slightly panicked at the sound of a scream.

 ** _"✞ ✡❄ ✋ ✋💧 🕆 👎 👍 ❄ 📬 ✋🕯 👍 👍😐 ✋❄ 🕆❄ ✌ 👎 👍 💣 👌✡ ✌💧 💧 ✌💧 ✋ 👍✌ ❄ ✞ ✋ ✡ ✡ 🕆 ✡🏱 ❄ 💧✋💧📬 👎👌✡ 📬_** ** _" (EVERYTHING IS UNDER CONTROL HERE. I'LL CHECK IT OUT AND COME BY AS SOON AS I CAN TO VERIFY YOUR HYPOTHESIS. GOODBYE.)_**

The other Gaster promptly hung up the phone as the two of them turned their attention to Doctor Alphys.

Gaster removed his magical hand from her mouth and she began to freak out, "Wh-what's g-g-going on?" She had already begun to hyperventilate.

"✌ 🏱 ✡💧📪 🏱 ✌💧 👍✌ 💣 👎 🕈 📬 🕈 🕯 ✠🏱 ✌✋ ✞ ✡❄ ✋ 📬" (ALPHYS, PLEASE CALM DOWN. WE'LL EXPLAIN EVERYTHING.)

"Wh-who's that?" She pointed at the other Gaster with the damaged lab coat.

Gaster's alternate smiled weakly and waved, **_"HELLO DOCTOR ALPHYS, MY NAME IS W. D. GASTER…" "_** ** _…✌ 👎 ✋🕯💣 💣 ✌ ❄ ❄✋💣 ✋ 📬_** ** _" (…AND I'M FROM ANOTHER TIMELINE.)_**

* * *

They all stood in stunned silence as the call was ended. What just happened over there?

 _"welp, that was interesting."_

Sans and Papyrus stood there in shock.

"DID YOU JUST…"

"call g your dad?"

 _"yup."_

Lynsie turned to Sans, "Sans, could you go check on Gaster?"

He shrugged, "alright. be right back, i'll take a shortcut." And with that, Sans vanished from the throne room.

"Well, this is just great." Prince Chara said, "This couldn't get any more confusing."

"Dammit, why'd you have to go and do that you idiot!" The younger, alternate Chara yelled at the prince. He's just like Alex was earlier today. Is she the only one who understands that you should never ask that question or say those things?

Suddenly, the doors in the back erupted open and the newcomer ran to the front, "YOUR MAJESTIES, I AM HERE TO PROVE FRISK'S INNOCENCE…"

He stopped running and stood in place beside the Frisk that was tied up. "OH, HELLO FRISK." He turned his head to look at the Frisk in his arms, before looking confused. "THIS IS… FRISK? HMMM…" He said, showing off the dazed child in his arms.

"H-hi…" She said as her head spun around in confusion and dizziness. "N-no more Papyrus…"

"SORRY OTHER-FRISK, BUT I NEEDED TO GET US HERE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!"

Chara face-palmed himself and he out a loud sigh, "Me and my big mouth."

"OH, HELLO OTHER-ME." Papyrus said, waving to his doppelgänger in the sleek armor beside the Princess.

"WOWIE, NICE BATTLE BODY." His alternate complimented, having always loved their original battle body.

"THANKS, NICE ARMOR ROYAL GUARDSMAN PAPYRUS!"

"NYEH HEH HEH!"

"NYEH HEH HEH!"

"Alright, I've had enough." Prince Chara said in annoyance, "Can somebody please tie up this other Papyrus now too?"

"WHY, WHAT'D I DO?"

"YEAH, HE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING."

"EXCEPT BE COOL."

"WE'RE BOTH COOL."

"Shut up!"

"Oh brother, calm down, will you?" Lynsie said teasingly as the two Papyruses stared at one another.

 _"hey bro."_

The foreign Papyrus turned toward his tied-up brother, "SANS, YOU LAZYBONES! WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?"

 _"sorry bro, i've been a little tied up."_

"NOW'S NOT THE TIME TO JOKE SANS! UNDYNE SAID THAT OUR FRISK AND CHARA BROKE THE LAW, WHICH IS CERTAINLY NOT TRUE. THEY WOULDN'T HURT A FLY, MUCH LESS A PRINCE AND UNDYNE!"

"She did it!" Both Frisk and Chara said, motioning toward the other.

"They're both responsible. That demonic girl attacked me and ran off with Frisk, before attacking Undyne too."

"Hey, this demonic girl didn't kill anyone." Chara spit back.

While they were all arguing over whose fault it was and how to proceed, Frisk approached Lynsie. "H-Hey Lynsie." She said quietly.

"Howdy Frisk, how's it going?"

"It's going well, I suppose…" She paused and motioned toward the doubles of Sans, Papyrus, Frisk, and Chara, "Th-this is all real, right? I'm not hallucinating?"

Lynsie sighed with a light smile, "No Frisk, this is very real. Although a bit overwhelming."

"Yeah…"

"Hey, how'd you get up here anyway?"

"Well, Papyrus found me at my school and got the Principle to let me go with him. He said that he was supposed to be watching over me, Chara, and some other person named Alex, whose supposedly my boyfriend."

"That's confusing."

"Do you… do you think they're friendly?"

"Well, they don't seem to mean us any harm. This other Papyrus and Sans haven't done anything wrong, and the other Frisk and Chara seemed to have had a bad first encounter with Chara, so… they seem friendly enough, I guess."

Frisk nodded, "I guess. So, is this all of the lookalikes, or are there more?"

"I'm not sure. Gaster mentioned that their might be more, but that was before Papyrus showed up."

"Hey, where's Sans?"

"He should be back any moment now. He went to check on Gaster."

Sans suddenly reappeared to the side of the room with two guests. Both of which were Gaster. Everyone's conversations ended as they looked at the Gasters.

 _"sup dad, welcome to the party."_

 ** _"NOT NOW SANS."_**

"so yeah… i found two of 'em." Sans said, eye sockets dark as he spoke neutrally.

Lynsie stared at them in shock for a moment, "Wait, who was the one on the phone with us?"

"👌 ❄ 🕆 💧 🕈 📪 🏱 ✋ 👍 💧💧📬" (BOTH OF US WERE, PRINCESS.)

"Ok, I'm about to lose it." Prince Chara said unhappily, "Will someone please explain what exactly is going on?"

"✈🕆 ✋❄ 💧✋💣🏱 ✡📪 🏱 ✋ 👍 📪 ❄ 💧 ✌ 🕆 ✌ ❄ ✌❄ 💧 💣 ✌ ❄ ❄✋💣 ✋ 📬" (QUITE SIMPLY, PRINCE, THESE ARE OUR ALTERNATES FROM ANOTHER TIMELINE.)

"How exactly did this happen?" Asriel asked.

 ** _"THAT'D BE MY FAULT."_** The alternate Gaster said, taking a small step forward. **_"I'VE_ _BEEN RECENTLY RESEARCHING SOUL TRAITS AND ANOMALIES, TRYING TO DISCOVER THE MOST RARE AND ABNORMAL SOULS. THAT'S WHEN I DISCOVERED THIS PLACE, WITH ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL ANOMALIES TO DATE."_**

"Me, right?" Lynsie asked, pointing to herself.

Gaster nodded, **_"PRECISELY._ _I QUICKLY ATTEMPTED A TIMELINE CONNECTION IN ORDER TO POSSIBLY STUDY THIS DATA, WHEN THE MACHINE SUFFERED A MALFUNCTION AND SENT US ALL HERE."_**

"And who would this 'us' be?" Chara asked, crossing his arms.

 _"that'd be me."_

"I THINK I'M ONE."

"Me and Chara makes four." Frisk added.

The alternate Gaster nodded, **_"AND MYSELF MAKES FIVE… BUT THERE WERE SIX OF US THAT CAME OVER."_**

 _"alex or alphys?"_ The tied-up Sans asked.

 ** _"ALEX."_**

"Who the hell is Alex?" Chara asked unhappily.

"Yeah, that's not a name I recognize." Lynn added.

Her Gaster was the one who responded, " ✋💧 ❄ ✌ 💣✌ ✡ 💣 ❄ ✋ ❄✋💣 ✋ 📬 📪 ❄ 📪 ✌💧 ✌ 🕆 ✋✈🕆 ✌ 👎 🏱 🕈 🕆 💧 🕆 📪 👍✌ 👎 🏱🕆 ✋❄✡📬" (HE IS THE ANOMALY FROM THEIR TIMELINE. HE, TOO, HAS A UNIQUE AND POWERFUL SOUL, CALLED PURITY.)

"How can you be sure that it was this 'Alex' that came through with you?" King Asgore asked.

"💣✡ 👎 ❄✋💣 ✋ 💧 ❄🕈✌ 👎 ❄ 👍❄ 👎 💧✋✠ ✌ 💣✌ ✋ 💧 ✌ 👎 👌 ✌👍 💧📬 ✌ ❄ 💣✡ ✋ 👎📪 📪 👍 ✌ 👎 🕆🏱 ❄ 👍 🕆🏱 ❄ 👎 👎✌❄✌📪 🕆 👎 ❄ ✌❄ ✋❄ 🕈 ✌💧 ✡ 🕆 🕆 📪 ✋💣💧 📪 ✌ 👎 ✌ ✠📬" (MY OLD TIMELINE SOFTWARE DETECTED SIX ANOMALIES AND BREACHES. AFTER MY FRIEND, HERE, CLEARED UP THE CORRUPTED DATA, HE FOUND THAT IT WAS YOU FOUR, HIMSELF, AND ALEX.)

"Your friend? Pardon me Gaster, but how could you refer to this imposter as a friend?" Chara questioned.

" ✌💧 👎 ❄ ✋ 👌🕆 ❄ 🕆🏱 ✌👎 💣✡ ❄✋💣 ✋ 💧 ❄🕈✌ ✌ 👎 ✋ ❄ 💣 📬 🕈 🕯✞ 👌 👍 🕆 ❄✋ 🕆 💧❄ ✋ 💧 🕆 ❄✋ ❄ 🏱 👍✌ 📬" (HE HAS DONE NOTHING BUT UPGRADE MY TIMELINE SOFTWARE AND ENLIGHTEN ME. WE'VE BEEN RECOUNTING OUR STORIES UNTIL THE PHONE CALL.)

"Wait, where's Alex then? Did you find him? Is he ok?" Frisk asked quickly, to which her Gaster shook his head.

 ** _"IT GAVE ME AN APPROXIMATE LOCATION, BUT IT WON'T HELP. IT'D TAKE HOURS TO REFINE THE DATA ENOUGH TO GIVE AN EXACT LOCATION, BUT EVEN THEN, IT'D ONLY GIVE US HIS ENTRY POINT. HE'S LIKELY MOVED ON SINCE ARRIVING."_**

"Then we need to start looking for him. He could be in danger or something!"

"Hold on, you think we're just going to-" Chara began before getting interrupted.

"I don't see why we can't try to help you out." Queen Toriel responded.

"Really? But… but what about my attack? We can't possibly trust them." Chara argued.

"I'd have to side with Chara here, mom. We don't know anything about where they came from or why we should trust them." Asriel added.

"Well… I-"

"I trust them." Lynsie cut in quickly. "They seem trustworthy enough, and Gaster seems to trust them."

 ** _"THANK YOU, PRINCESS."_**

"WOWIE, ANOTHER PRINCESS! YOU HEAR THAT FRISK AND CHARA, SHE'S LIKE YOU."

"We're not princesses Papyrus." Frisk said.

"BUT, AREN'T YOU?"

"Technically, yes, but not really." Chara replied.

 _"so, if we're no longer prisoners, can i get these ropes off now?"_

After a moment in thought, King Asgore nodded, "Very well, release them."

The guardsmen Sans and Papyrus went over and undid the bonds holding Frisk, Chara, and the other Sans.

"Thanks."

"Yeah, I guess."

 _"thanks a ton… a skeleton."_

"YOU AND SANS OVERUSE THAT JOKE FAR TOO OFTEN OTHER-SANS!"

"…But, I agree with Chara and Asriel. I'd like to hear more about where you're from first." King Asgore finished as they were released.

 _"hmm… where to start."_

Frisk jumped up, holding Chara's hand as she did so now that they were standing by each other again. "Me and Chara can start with when I first fell down."

Chara shrugged, "Yeah, that'll work."

All of the others got quiet as they began their tale.

"It all started when Alex and I were playing on Mt. Ebott. I had run off and fell into a hole, high up on the mountain. That's when I fell into the Underground, before landing on a soft bed of flowers…" She began as everyone quieted down to listen to her tale.

Prince Chara and Asriel still didn't fully trust these 'doppelgängers', but hopefully this story could help clear things up a little.

* * *

 ** _Author's Note:_**

 ** _Sorry about the wingdings. I've tried to do my best, but FanFiction isn't a fan of them. Next chapter is here for you, next might take a while. I'll be without internet for another week or so, but hopefully I'll have the next chapter ready by then. Hope you enjoyed and I hope I did R.I.P. Lynn's characters justice. Writing so many characters interacting at once is not very easy... Anyway, have a nice day!  
_**

 ** _-swrWriter_**


	7. Oh what FUN it is

**Remember: Spoilers for Undertale, my story, and R.I.P Lynn's are contained within this story. **

**If you'd rather not be spoiled in any of those three ways, please stop now and go read the other stories or play the game. (It's worth it!)**

 **If you need another reminder/overview of either of our stories, please go back to chapter one or two to check them out.**

 **Thanks again to R.I.P. Lynn for making this possible.**

 **Now, time to check on everyone!**

* * *

 **Chapter Seven: **Oh what FUN it is…

Alex let out a deep a deep breath and collapsed onto the soft queen-sized bed of his hotel room as he gave his muscles a moment to relax.

He'd purchased a room after almost an hour of searching the bottom floor of the MTT Resort Hotel. He found no sign of Mettaton other than the news that he was expected back in town after her current tour in about a week. Which meant that getting Mettaton's help was a no-go.

Next was Sans. As far as he could tell, Sans NEVER came around for a comedy show. Sure, recognizable shows were planned for that evening, including a comedy show by Snowdrake, but nothing with Sans. Even talking with Burgerpants revealed that Sans hasn't had a show there in years… or something like that perhaps?

For some reason, when Alex asked for more details, Burgerpants began to sweat and dodge his questions. Sounds like there's some sort of big, world-shattering secret about this timeline, but Alex wasn't interested in uncovering what it was at the moment. He just wanted to find his friends and go home.

After all of his ideas and leads led to dead ends, Alex finally gave in an bought a hotel room for the night, just as the final rays of sunshine left the horizon.

With night claiming victory over day, Alex could feel his emotional and mental energy reaching critically low levels. With haste, Alex went to his room on the 5th floor and flopped down onto his bed, leaving him where he could be found now.

His body and Soul screamed for sleep, but his mind betrayed them, telling Alex of the fears and nightmares that would likely accompany his rest. As much as Alex WANTED to sleep, he knew he couldn't. Something was really, REALLY wrong with him.

He had already had a flashback and meltdown only an hour or two earlier, but they had never set in so hard before. Something about this timeline, perhaps, was making his problems worse? Or maybe Alex is just trying to justify that he didn't really need help with his problems? Either way, he was fighting his exhaustion to stay awake, but it was a losing battle.

The bed was deceivingly comfortable, and the room's temperature and lighting were only furthering the hold exhaustion held on Alex's Soul. Soon enough, sleep claimed victory as Alex passed out on the bed, allowing dreams to start coming in…

This certainly would be FUN.

* * *

After the duplicates from another timeline finished their story, it was time to figure out what to do next. It was quickly decided, to the annoyance of Chara and Asriel, that the sisters Frisk and Chara would be permitted to stay in a guest room in the castle for the night. As a compromise, two extra guards were dispatched to watch the room that night, making sure no one entered or left the room without permission. The alternate Papyrus quickly volunteered to keep them company and to 'guard them with his life' since he 'had no need for sleep'.

The other Sans and Gaster decided they'd go to Gaster's lab and help him begin construction on a device to allow travel to alternate timelines and a way to get back home. A Quantum Multiversal Accelerator, or QMA as the other Gaster called it. Prince Chara wanted some fresh air and volunteered to bring their Frisk back to her home, while everyone else prepared to get some sleep of their own after dinner.

Lynsie had, now, returned to her room, ready for sleep to claim her as she recounted the events of the day. Alternate versions of Gaster, Sans, Papyrus, Frisk, and Chara had all come here with the anomaly of their world, Alex. A world untainted from the horror of Resets. It sounded like their timeline hit a jackpot since Frisk and Chara never tried to abuse the power they had, but she didn't feel that way for long, as the rest of their story was explained.

Had their Gaster really done THAT much, just because he feared what was beyond his own timeline? Would her Gaster have done the same if he could've seen what he saw? And the stories about Betty, Error Sans, and the Entity… those did not sound like good times. But, both her timeline and theirs seem to have one thing in common: Their happy endings were, by no means, easy to achieve.

Yet… something still felt off to her. Something deep in her Soul told her there was something more that was happening now. What could she be missing? She wasn't sure, but she no longer had time to ponder on these things as she, herself, passed out from exhaustion as well.

As darkness gave way to darker darkness, Lynsie found herself in a familiar, yet odd location. She was in the Void between timelines, outside of time, yet close enough to be influenced. She was confused. Why was she in the Void? She hadn't visited it while asleep since Gaster was trapped here… wait a moment… She's asleep? At least she figured it out quick enough. Yay for lucid dreaming!

Soon enough, she heard a noise that sounded like whimpering to her left, forcing her to turned quickly to see what was wrong.

Before her was Frisk, a bit younger than she is now, restrained by physical darkness. Beside her stood a familiar monster in a black turtleneck and pants, with a lab coat over them. She could feel the raw power radiating off of this 'Gaster', whose back was toward her. The restrained Frisk was the one whimpering, facing away from her as well.

Lynsie quickly approached the pair and saw why Gaster had so much power. Floating over one of his open hands were the six Souls Asgore had collected previously. How did Gaster get them? If he was in the Void, how could he have possibly gotten ahold of them or Frisk.

Gaster nor Frisk seemed to notice her existence as their eyes remained glued to the large display before them, he was smiling while Frisk seemed to be crying. Sensing its importance, she looked ahead and saw what appeared to be Judgement Hall. It was in ruins as two combatants stood on opposite sides of the battlefield. One human, one monster. Chara vs Sans, perhaps?

Looking closer, Lynsie could make out details about the human. He wore a red and white sweater, and held what appeared to be a sword made completely out of bone. She figured, or at least hoped, that those bones were magic, and not real, human bones. The human looked exhausted as he held out a hand toward Sans.

In front of the Human's hand was a silver heart-shaped object, which must have been his Soul. A beam of energy came out of it and hit Sans directly in the chest, causing him to stagger.

Lynsie let out a cry, horrified at what had just happened. This human had just killed Sans.

Except… Sans didn't turn to dust, and the surprise of this fact could be seen on both her face and Sans'. She heard him speak.

 _"h-human? i-i'm ok?"_

Lynsie smiled, happy she wouldn't have to see Sans turn to dust. She'd NEVER want to see that. After a moment, Sans spoke again.

 _"…i can feel it. there's a glimmer… no, more than that… of a good person inside you. i must have been mistake and… tricked…"_ Sans lowered his head a bit sadly. A short moment later, he spoke again.

 _"please, if you're listening to me still… after everything i did… let's forget about all of this, ok? please… let's end this fight now. once and for all…"_

Sans was sparing the child. Lynsie's smile widened, and so did Frisk's beside her. Was this fight between human and monster truly over now? It was up to the human now, but she didn't know him. For all she knew, he was as heartless and cruel as Chara was while a vengeful demon.

She saw the human child smile gently and nod.

 _"…you're sparing me? finally. buddy. pal... c'mere pal."_

The human, without hesitation, ran and jumped into Sans' embrace, wrapping his arms around the skeleton as he began to sob into Sans' parka. He, too, wrapped his arms around the kid and held him tightly as the human sobbed for almost another minute. He loosened his grip slightly and began to finally calm down, all while Sans let a tear of his own drop onto the human.

The fight was finally over.

Then it happened.

Several sharp bones erupted from the earth, puncturing the child's chest and filling their insides with blood as he let out a blood-curdling scream. Frisk let out a similar scream from beside her as Gaster's smile grew.

Sans stopped hugging and comforting the child, taking a step back and smiling as well. The same, creepy smile that Gaster also wore. His left eye was aflame, but it was colorless and cruel, lacking the normally beautiful blue and yellow aura she had always known.

The child's Soul began to quiver and crack as his HP plummeted to zero in an instant. Then she heard two more, familiar screams.

"NNOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! YOU BASTARD!" She heard Undyne scream.

"M-MY CHILD! Please! Why would you do this! To someone so… SO YOUNG?" She heard her own mother scream, wearing royal attire. Undyne seemed injured, as her black armor had a large gash on the front of it. Both women were trapped on the other side of a bone wall, preventing them from intervening in the fight or coming to the child's aid.

After a moment, the child coughed, trying desperately to speak to Sans.

"S-sans… I-I'm sorry… t-this i-… isn't your f-f-fault… i…" The child coughed again, creating a smaller, separate pool of blood on the ground between them. "…I forgive you…" He finished, before the child went limp and a shock of fear and realization erupted on Sans' face.

But… it was too late. Before Sans could even realize what he'd done, the silver Soul split into two halves, before dissolving into a million pieces. The child was dead.

As the shock finally caught up to Sans, the bone wall he had generated collapsed, allowing the two female monsters to approach him, but Sans didn't care about them. He quickly rushed forward and retracted the bones, catching the human's dead body and cradling it in his arms as tears began to flood out of his eye sockets.

He'd just killed someone close and dear to him…

It all happened so fast. Now the Queen held the child in her arms as she tried pumping healing magic into the child. Now, Sans was held a few feet off the ground by his vertebrate in his neck by Undyne. She was, without a doubt, pissed.

"YOU MOTHERFUCKING PIECE OF SHIT! THEY SPARED YOU! THEY FORGAVE YOU! AND FOR WHAT?! TO BE BRUTALLY MURDERED BY SOMEONE THEY TRUSTED SO MUCH?!"

Sans stared blankly at Undyne as she held him tightly. After a moment, he forced himself to try to speak. _"i… i… i didn't…"_

"WHAT?! YOU DIDN'T WHAT? MEAN IT? THINK IT WOULD KILL THEM?"

Sans continued to cry as Undyne's hold weakened, feeling the regret and pain radiating off of him, _"i couldn't s-stop mys-self… g-gaster… he… he did something to me…"_ He tried to explain.

Undyne looked away, refusing to maintain eye contact with the skeleton as she dropped him to the ground. All three of them were broken from the loss of the human child. Frisk, beside her, was broken as well, while Gaster continued to smile as a silver Soul appeared in the Void before him.

It was the child's. Their Soul was now in the Void… for Gaster to take for himself…

Lynsie didn't know this child. Who they were or anything else… but still, even then, she couldn't help but feel sick to her stomach after watching his brutal murder.

* * *

Lynsie sat up suddenly in her bed, gasping for air as her mind raced. What the hell was that?! Every moment of that dream, she remembered in perfect detail. That didn't seem like a regular, odd dream. It was real, it happened, it…

It never happened in this timeline…

Was that… was that something that happened back in the guest's timeline? The description of the events of their timeline matched what she saw, so in that case… that child was Alex. They never mentioned that Alex was brutally murdered by Sans, who was under Gaster's control.

And then another question burned in her mind: How the hell did she see that?

It's one thing to have visitors from another timeline, but a memory? That doesn't seem possible. She… she needed to talk to someone. Gaster, maybe? He'd know how this happened or what it means.

She went to grab her phone, but it began to ring on its own, which caused her to jump a bit in shock. Then, she realized that it was just someone else calling her. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves as she picked up the phone.

"Hello?" She asked. She didn't recognize the number. In fact, the number read 'Blocked'.

"Hello! Can I speak to G…" The other person began. The voice sounded slightly familiar, yet unknown at all at the same time.

"… Wait a second." They said, "Is this the wrong number?"

Suddenly, a weird melody began to play in sync with the person speaking as they continued.

 _"Oh it's the wrong number!"_

 _"The wrong number song!"_

 _"We're very very sorry that we got it wrong."_

 _"Oh it's the wrong number!"_

 _"The wrong number song!"_

 _"We're very very sorry that we got it wrong."_

'Click.' They immediately hung up, leaving Lynsie in a state of confusion. It's one thing to have someone call the wrong number, but to have a little song-and-dance number to accompany it? How peculiar. And why did something about that phone call leave her feeling uneasy?

She shrugged it off and choose Gaster's number, letting it dial and ring for a moment before the call was answered.

 ** _"DOCTOR GASTER SPEAKING."_**

"Doctor? Where's Gaster? My Gaster, I mean."

 **" _OH RIGHT, SORRY ABOUT THAT PRINCESS. HEHE, HE'S CURRENTLY BUSY IN THE BASEMENT LEVEL. WANT ME TO GET HIM?"_** The alternate Gaster informed her.

"Oh, well, I'd like to talk with at least one of you." Lynsie started after she finished giggling, "If he's busy, than maybe you could help me out. I wanted to talk with one of you anyway."

 ** _"ALRIGHT, THAT'S FINE, BUT IT MIGHT BE BETTER TO TALK FACE TO FACE. I COULD SEND SANS OVER TO PICK YOU UP, IF THAT'S FINE."_**

"Sure, that'll work, thanks."

 ** _"DON'T MENTION IT. SEE YOU SOON."_** He then hung up as he was likely getting Sans to come over. Lynsie jumped out of her bed and quickly changed into a comfortable pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt, before putting on a pair of running shoes. No need to dress all formal and lady-like right now.

Right as she was putting on her second shoe, a knock sounded at her door.

Knock, knock.

She smirked a bit in the dark before answering. "Who's there?"

 _"woo"_

"Woo who?"

 _"shhhh. hehe, i know you're excited, but not so loud."_

Lynsie smiled and laughed quietly as Sans entered her room, wearing his lab coat still, smiling. _"sup princess, i hear you're looking for a shortcut."_

She nodded, "That'd be correct punny bones." She smiled to herself for a moment before frowning and shaking her head, "Sorry about that, force of habit."

Sans shrugged, _"nah, it's fine. we're the ones who should be apologizin'."_

She nodded and smiled a bit, "How is it?"

 _"huh?"_

"I mean, how does it feel to see me with a version of you and Papy?"

Sans chuckled quietly, _"hehe, it's kinda weird, i'll admit. but seeing paps, any version of him, happy… well, it makes me happy to know he's happy. hell, you even made 'me' happy, which isn't a very easy feat, so it's all good."_

Lynsie nodded, "They both mean the world to me."

 _"well, i'm not here to replace them like one of alphys' bad anime, so no need to worry there."_ He joked, making Lynn smile a bit wider.

"Hahaha, that's good…" She paused, thinking for a moment as the two of them stood there in the darkness for a moment. "Hey Sans… what's Alex like?" She asked, wanting to know more about this 'Anomaly' from their timeline.

Sans chuckled softly and nodded, _"alex? he's a good kid. he's been through so much, but managed to make it through it all relatively unscathed. you should see him and frisk. they get kinda frisky sometimes."_ He joked, making the two of them laugh for a second.

She tilted her head a bit, "After everything that you've told me about… the journey Underground, the timeline travels, the enemies that came to you guys… is he really fine after all of that?" She wondered aloud.

Sans shrugged and scratched the back of his skull. _"well… i used to think so, but… he's seemed kinda distant recently. he's refused to use his magic for the last few months, he sometimes jumps and freaks out on occasion, and… i've noticed he's been getting less and less sleep recently…"_ Sans explained, before sighing…

 _"if i'm being completely honest, i think he's having some issues with everything that's happened, but if he is having them, he's been doing a pretty decent job hiding it, but you can't get much past me…"_

Lynsie nodded, looking to the side for a moment, "I know that with everything that I've gone through, I'm pretty lucky to have gotten through it all with relatively little damage. I just worry that his experiences have… I don't know, overburdened him, maybe?"

Sans understood what she was getting at, _"yeah, but i'm sure the kiddo's fine right now. he's stronger than you think. in fact, he's probably sleeping in a warm bed right now, waiting until morning to try to find us."_

"Alright…" She took a step forward, "Now, shall we be off to see Gaster."

Sans nodded and smiled, taking one of her hands and holding it gently, causing both of them to blush in the darkness of the room. After a moment, Sans took a deep breath despite not having lungs and spoke.

 _"a-alright princess. hold on."_

And with that, they were gone.

* * *

Alex awoke suddenly, clutching his chest as his heart pounded against his chest and his blood pressure spiked. He took several panicked deep breaths as he tried to get his heart-rate under control, sitting up against the bed rest as he did so.

As he tried to calm down, he thought about the nightmare he'd just had. Another awful one, but it wasn't just a generalized one this time around… This time, he'd dreamt about his near-death experience with Mettaton and Gaster. The images and details of the battle were still burned into his skull as he tried desperately to forget them.

 _'a perfectly timed kick hits you in the chest. The blow separates you from Undyne as you slide across the floor, now riddled with holes and trenches.'_ A shiver goes up Alex's spine as he tries to not think about that day.

 _'You notice the glowing right arm cannon aimed at you as it fired, hitting you in the left leg, returning you to the ground.'_ Alex didn't want to remember the pain of that moment, but his brain would not stop now.

 _'…a shooting pain coursing through your body. The epicenter of this being the spot on your upper leg, the spot in which the beam impacted…'_ Alex remember the horror he felt when he looked at it. _'Your left leg was now twisted in an unnatural angle, blood seeping out of a burnt wound where the beam impacted. Your leg was broken, no question about it…'_

Then he was picked up, only to be dropped moments later, _'You screamed in agony as you landed in this way before falling and laying on your right side.'_

And then when Alphys used the serum to fuse the bone and tissue back to-, NO! No more. Alex shook himself from his thoughts and forced himself to stop recalling all that pain and misery. He took a deep breath as his pulse finally lowered itself down to a reasonable pace.

Now that the adrenaline coursing through his veins had calmed down a bit, Alex looked himself and the room over. The lights of the room were still on, since he never turned them off, allowing him to get a good look at the state of the room.

His bone blade, the Clavicle, laid discarded on the floor as slice marks from the blade were clearly visible across the entire bed, causing significant damage to the sheets and mattress. Alex paled at the sight before him.

He l-lashed out in his sleep…

He's only done it once before, but not on this scale.

Once, a few months back, he's struck out during a nightmare too. In the middle of the night, he dreamt of when he went to a genocidal timeline. In Judgement Hall where he stared down a Chara-controlled Frisk. He fired a beam of Purity magic at them in his dream, but when he awoke, he found a burn mark from the beam on a nearby wall of his bedroom.

He had, promptly, covered it up with one of his posters, before secretly getting paint later that week to fix the burn on the wall, and no one was any the wiser.

Frisk, though… she didn't know about the lash out, but he told her about it a few weeks later. She freaked out and looked at him with her sad, puppy eyes, begging him to tell her what's wrong. He wanted, so badly, to tell her what's wrong. To tell her about all of his nightmares. Or to mention that he'd had flashbacks at magic practice whenever Verdana or Sans or Alric summoned blasters and weapons. Or how he vomited last time he went to one of Mettaton's concerts after he almost had a breakdown when he showed off his Neo form as a 'costume'.

But no. He couldn't tell her any of that. This was his burden to bear. Frisk, and Chara, and Gaster, and everyone else had been through far too much already. They didn't deserve to have to bear this burden and fear with him. Plus, he's been getting better, right?! Maybe not… he certainly wasn't fooling himself…

Alex took a deep breath, before looking at the clock. It was almost 4:45 am. There was no way he'd be able to pay to fix this stuff right now, and if he got caught after damaging this room… that certainly wouldn't be good. Perhaps the complimentary breakfast was available now? He could go get something to eat, before searching for clues around town?

Yeah, that sounded like a good idea. Anything to get him home.

But… something deep within his Soul was… odd, pained even. Something about this timeline and universe was affecting his Soul, perhaps? But he couldn't worry about that now… but he should…

If he looked at his Soul right now, he'd notice that the silver had all but given away to a dark, dull grey color now. Purity without hope… Alex had no idea how dark his Soul had become. And this was, in no way, going to be FUN.

* * *

 _"alright, here we are prin-"_ Sans paused as he took in the change in décor within Gaster's lab. Lynsie proceeded to finish Sans' next thought as she spoke.

"Holy shit." She finished, unable to form any other words at the moment.

Gaster's lab remained mostly unchanged… except now there was a new, open window the size of an elephant in one of the nearby walls. The hole was almost perfectly circular, with scorch and burn marks surrounding the circle and blackening the normally pristine white walls.

The alternate Gaster sat on the ground, facing the hole with a look of horror on his face as her Gaster was typing furiously away at a nearby console. It seems that his added haste was a result of whatever caused the hole in the wall.

Lynsie quickly ran over to the alternate Gaster. "D-doctor Gaster, what happened?!"

Sans ran over as well and help Lynsie with her task, _"yeah dad, i was only gone for, like, five minutes."_

Gaster, however, was still in shock from whatever transpired, and was unable to form a description on what had just transpired.

"💧✌ 💧📪 ✋ 👎 ✡ 🕆 ❄ ❄ ❄ ✌ 👎 ❄🕆 ❄ 🕆 💧 💧 ✌ ✌✡📬"(SANS, I NEED YOU TO GO TO THE ROOF AND TURN ON THE FUN SENSOR ARRAY.) Lynsie's Gaster said from his console, not once looking up at the three of them.

 _"but g-"_

" ❄✋💣 💧✌ 💧📪 ❄ ✋💧 ✋💧 ✌ 💣 👍✡✏" (NO TIME SANS, THIS IS AN EMERGENCY!)

Sans nodded, _"alright, you got it."_ At once, Sans vanished as Lynsie returned her attention the other Gaster, who seemed to be finally calming down.

"Gaster. W.D., what happened?"

Gaster took a deep breath and looked into her eyes, **_"TH-THE D-DOOR... IT RE-RETURNED!"_** He stammered out, which only made her grow more concerned.

"The door?" She asked, unsure of what he meant.

Her Gaster looked over his shoulder and made eye-contact with Lynsie, helpfully filling in the missing details, "❄ ✌✡ 👎 📪 ❄ 🕆 👎 ✋ 🕈 ✌❄ ✌ 📪 ✋ ❄ ✌ 🕈 ✌✡ ❄ ✌❄ 👎 💧 🕯❄ ✠✋💧❄… ✋❄ 💧🕆 👎👎 ✡ ✌🏱🏱 ✌ 👎 ✋ ❄ ✌👌📬" (THE GRAY DOOR, THE ONE FOUND IN WATERFALL, IN THE HALLWAY THAT DOESN'T EXIST… IT SUDDENLY APPEARED IN THE LAB.)

He explained, before looking back at the console, "💧 📪 ✋👍✌ ✡📪 ✋ ✋ 👎 ✌ 👌 ✌💧❄ 👌 ✌💣 ❄ 👌 ✋❄ ✌❄ ❄ ✌❄ 👎 📪 ❄🕆 ✋ ✋❄ ❄ ❄ 💧👍✌🏱 💣 🕈 ✋👍 ✋❄ 👍✌💣 📬" (SO, LOGICALLY, I FIRED A BLASTER BEAM TO OBLITERATE THAT DOOR, RETURNING IT TO THE HELLSCAPE FROM WHICH IT CAME.)

"The door? That one? How did it appear?" She asked, "Shouldn't it be locked to that single point in space, unable to move from that specific location?"

"👌🕆 ❄ 🕈 ✌❄ ✌ 👎 💧 ❄ ✠✋💧❄ ✋ ❄ ✋💧 ❄✋💣 ✋ 📬 ❄ ❄✋ 🕆 👎 🕆 👎 ✋💧 ❄ ✋ 💣 ❄ ✌ 💧 ✋👎 👍😐📬" (BUT WATERFALL DOES NOT EXIST IN THIS TIMELINE. THE ENTIRE UNDERGROUND IS NOTHING MORE THAN SOLID ROCK.)

"Still, that would just mean that it would be eternally locked behind rock." Lynsie countered, "And even if not, what could possibly cause its sudden appearance here?"

Sans reappeared in the lab, _"it's all good g. so, why'd i do that?"_

"✂ 💣 💣 ❄📬📬📬 ✌ 💣 💧❄📬📬📬 ❄ ✏✂" (ONE MOMENT… ALMOST… THERE!) Her Gaster paused as many different values and numbers began flooding the screen, before most of them vanished, leaving behind a single string of numbers on the screen. After a few more seconds of integration, the value was added to Gaster's previous monitor.

The newly added value read: **F.U.N. Value: 166**

Then, after a few seconds, it changed to read: **F.U.N. Value: 059**

The alternate Gaster gasped in horror as he looked upon the screen, standing up next to his alternate, **_"UNFORTUNATELY FOR US, MY HYPOTHESIS WAS CORRECT…"_**

The Gaster beside Lynise's jaw hung ajar as he tried to comprehend what he had just said, " 📬🕆 📬 📬 ✞✌ 🕆 💧… ✌ 👎 🕈 ✌ ❄ ✡ 🕆 👍❄🕆 ✌❄✋ 💧 ✌🏱 ✋👎 ✡✍" (F.U.N. VALUES… AND HOW ARE THEY FLUCTUATING SO RAPIDLY?)

Sans turned toward his father, _"dad, don't tell me what i think you're going to say."_

Gaster frowned, **_"UNFORTUNATELY, THAT WOULD BE CORRECT SANS. IT SEEMS THAT OUR FORCED CONNECTION AND MALFUNCTIONED DISCONNECTION TO THIS UNIVERSE HAS RENDERED THIS UNIVERSE'S, AND OURS', F.U.N. VALUES TO RAPIDLY FLUCTUATE."_**

"I'm sorry, FUN Values?" Lynsie interrupted, "How are those at play here?"

Sans nodded, _"okay, so you know about timelines, loads, and resets, right?"_

Lynsie nodded and her Gaster continued, " ❄ ❄✋👍✌ ✡📪 ✋ 🕈✌💧 ❄ 🕈✋ 👎 ❄✋💣 📪 👌🕆❄ ❄ 👍 ✌ ✌ ✡❄ ✋ 📪 ❄ ❄ ❄✋💣 ✋ 💧 🕆 👎 💣✌✋ 🕆 ✡ 🕆 👍 ✌ 👎📬" (THEORETICALLY, IF ONE WAS TO REWIND TIME, BUT NOT CHANGE ANYTHING, THEN THE TIMELINE SHOULD REMAIN FULLY UNCHANGED.)

Lynsie nodded once more, "Yes, that makes sense, considering not changing anything should allow the timeline to do the exact same things. However, it's obviously not the case, since anomalies like myself and your Alex exist and change timelines for the better."

Sans nodded, _"exactly, you're a hundred percent right princess. during repetitions of the timeline from resets, especially when done extensively, some random events and differences occasionally occurred, with no seeming cause behind them aside from random chance. it's just a matter of time before fun values and other such factors create vastly different outcomes."_

"So that's were F.U.N. Values come into play, right? Gaster's taught me much about his research and theories into FUN."

The alternate Gaster nodded, **_"EXACTLY. YOU SEE, EVERY TIME A RESET OCCURS THE FUN VALUE CHANGES, AS YOU SAID, WHICH IS THE CAUSE OF THESE RANDOM EVENTS… ALTHOUGH IT HAS ALSO BEEN OBSERVED THAT THERE CAN BE OTHER… MORE DAMAGING WAYS TO CHANGE THE FUN VALUE."_**

"❄ 💧 📬🕆 📬 📬 ✞✌ 🕆 💧 👍✌ ✌👎 ❄ ✋ 🕆 💣 ✌👌 👎✋ ❄ 🕆 ❄👍 💣 💧📪 ✋😐 ❄ ✌🏱🏱 ✌ ✌ 👍 ❄ ✌❄ ✡ 👎 ❄ ❄ ✞ ✋👎📪 💣 ❄✋ 💣✡ 🕈 💧… ✞ 💧 💣 🕈 ✋ 👎 🏱 👍✌ 💧 ✌ 👎 ❄ ✠❄ ✌ 🕆💧 👍👍🕆 👍 💧 👍 🕆 👎 ❄ ✌ 💧🏱✋ 📬" (THESE F.U.N. VALUES CAN LEAD TO INNUMERABLE DIFFERENT OUTCOMES, LIKE THE APPEARANCE OF THAT GREY DOOR TO THE VOID, OR MEETING ONE OF MY FOLLOWERS… EVEN SOME WEIRD PHONE CALLS AND OTHER EXTRANEOUS OCCURRENCES COULD TRANSPIRE.)

The three of them explained, which she already had some sort of idea about. Lynsie took a moment to absorb all of this information, before she responded, "So let me get this straight. The FUN Values, which can alter and create seemingly random events and change the flow of time, itself, are changing at a normally impossible rate. And, the value is normally only changed through Resets and Loads, but other, more damaging methods can be used to change them instead? So that means that your connection to this timeline is one of the more damaging methods to changing FUN."

The three of them nodded, "Ok, so what does FUN stand for agian? I believe it was Functional Universe Number, right?" Both Gasters nodded.

Sans smirked, _"actually, in my timeline at least, i'm the one who came up with this one. it stands for 'Fully Understanding Nothing."_ He said proudly, trying his best to remain serious. His father narrowed his eye sockets at Sans and shook his head, earning a chuckle from Sans.

"So, you said that the connection and disconnection between our timelines has caused the number to rapidly change?"

Both Gasters nodded.

"So that would explain the phone call I got earlier. I think they were trying to get ahold of one of the two of you, but they quickly realized it was the wrong number, and sang the 'Wrong Number Song' for me."

Sans chuckled, _"hehe, we're very very sorry that we got it wrong."_ He reminisced and joked, _"definitely a FUNny event."_

One Gaster groaned and the other chuckled. Honestly, Lynsie wasn't sure which one did which as she, herself, couldn't help the smile that formed on her lips. "That'd also explain my dream."

 _"dream? never heard of a dream being effected by FUN values, but… then again, FUN value readings have never exceeded 100 before today, so it's possible. plus, this timeline is very different than the average one."_

" 🕈 ✌❄ 🕈 ✌💧 ✡ 🕆 👎 ✌💣 ✌👌 🕆 ❄✍" (WHAT WAS YOUR DREAM ABOUT?)

"Well, I saw Gaster and Frisk in the Void. And we were all watching Sans and a human fight a little, before Sans killed the human, Alex, I presumed, before Sans was freed from whatever control he was under." She summarized. She looked up and noticed Sans' and Gaster's sockets were pitch black.

 _"that…"_

 ** _"...WAS A DAY WE'D ALL LIKE TO FORGET…"_**

Sans took a deep breath, _"how did you see all of that… that isn't even a part of this timeline. hell, it's not even a part of ours anymore. frisk's load undid that whole mess."_

"🏱 ✌🏱💧 ✋❄🕯💧 ✌ 👌 👎✋ 📫 ✞ 👍❄ 💣 ❄ ❄✋💣 ✋ 👍 👍❄✋ 📪 ✋ 👍 💣👌✋ ✌❄✋ 🕈 ✋❄ ❄ 🕆 ✞✌ 🕆 💧📬 " (PERHAPS IT'S A BLEEDING-OVER EFFECT FROM THE TIMELINE CONNECTION, IN COMBINATION WITH THE FUN VALUES.)

Gaster took a deep breath and calmed down, before stroking his chin with his hand, **_"POSSIBLE AND VERY LIKELY, BUT THAT MAKES ME FEARFUL. IF A 'BLEEDING-OVER EFFECT' SUCH AS THAT CAN OCCUR, WHAT ELSE CAN… AND WHAT ELSE WILL?"_**

Lynsie's Gaster seemed to be thinking about something before some sort of realization was formed in his head. " ✡ 💧✋ 📪 ✡ 🕆 💧 🕆 ✏" (LYNSIE, YOUR SOUL!)

Lynsie looked at him with a bit of confusion, "What about it?"

Gaster suddenly stood up straighter and took a look at the extra data the alternate Gaster had gathered on FUN values, "❄ 👎✌❄✌ 💧🕆 💧❄💧 ❄ ✌❄ ✌ 💣✌ 🕆💧 ❄✋❄✋ 💧 ✌ 💣 👍❄ 👎 👌✡ 🕆 ❄ ✌ ✞ ✡ 💧 📪 👍 🕈 ✡ ❄ 👎 ✌🏱🏱 ✌ 👎 🕆💧 ✌ 👎 ✡ 🕆 ❄ ❄ 🏱 👍✌ 📬" (THE DATA SUGGESTS THAT ANOMALOUS ENTITIES ARE MORE EFFECTED BY FUN THAN EVERYONE ELSE, HENCE WHY THE DOOR APPEARED FOR US AND YOU GOT THE PHONE CALL.)

Lynsie nodded, "That makes sense, but what does this have to do with my Soul?"

"🕈 ✌❄ ✋ ❄ 💧 ✌🏱 ✋👎 ✡ 👍 ✌ ✋ ✞✌ 🕆 💧 ✌🕈 ✌😐 👎 ✡ 🕆 ✌ 💣✌ ✡ 💧❄✌❄ ✍" (WHAT IF THESE RAPIDLY CHANGING VALUES REAWAKENED YOUR ANOMALY STATE?)

Lynsie's eyes widened as his words began to sink in. That much power? Back again? She had thought she was rid of that power forever, but if what Gaster said was true… this could be a game changer.

She took a deep breath and summoned her Soul forth. The pulsating heart floated before her chest as she focused.

The alternate Gaster let out a breath in awe as it began to rapidly change colors. Sans stood there in shock. Her Gaster only looked on in amazement as the colors stopped and Lynsie's eyes began to emit a bright, unnatural white light.

She spoke, her voice tainted by the power within her Soul.

"T̸h̵e͘ ͠A͟n̕o̷ma̴l͞y̕ ̨S̡ta͘t͏e has͟ r̕e̶t̡u͟r͘ned̕."

* * *

 ** _Author's Note:_**

 ** _Alright, hope everyone has/had a Merry Christmas! I've gotten on a bit of a roll, having been able to write this chapter relatively quickly and have it be a bit longer than the other ones so far. At this rate, I might be able to do another chapter before the year ends._**

 ** _That being said, hope you enjoyed this FUN chapter! This certainly leaves several questions to ponder! How're the FUN values effecting Alex? What does the return of the Anomaly State mean? And most importantly, who's gonna pay for the damages to the lab? I guarantee you that at least two of these questions might possibly be answered in the future. Until then, let me know what you thought!_**

 ** _-swrWriter_**


	8. The Anomaly State

**Remember: Spoilers for Undertale, my story, and R.I.P Lynn's are contained within this story. **

**If you'd rather not be spoiled in any of those three ways, please stop now and go read the other stories or play the game. (It's worth it!)**

 **If you need another reminder/overview of either of our stories, please go back to chapter one or two to check them out.**

 **Thanks again to R.I.P. Lynn for making this possible.**

 **Now, time to check on everyone!**

* * *

 **Chapter Eight:** The Anomaly State

Undyne was outside, managing the angry crowd of monsters and single human as they demanded entrance to Gaster's lab. The mob consisted of Toriel, Asgore, Asriel, Verdana, and Alric. All of which were very 'not-thrilled' to hear that neither the three Dreemurrs nor the skeletons would be coming out any time soon.

"Where's my children?" Toriel pleaded, despite the fire in her eyes.

"Undyne, I demand that you step aside." Asgore demanded of his former head of the Royal Guard.

"Yeah, you can't just stop us from going in." Asriel added in.

"Y-yeah, m-my brothers a-a-and dad have been missing for almost a-an entire day now!" Verdana said, trying her best not to get overly angry despite the situation.

Alric crossed his arms, "Move aside Undyne, we can help."

Undyne, however, did not move from her position in front of the door, and remained with her arms spread out. She shook her head, "Listen, NO ONE is allowed entry. Alphys and Jordan have been hard at work since the incident yesterday, and they need peace and quiet."

She took a deep breath before putting on a more menacing face, "Now, I promised them that they'd get plenty of time to work… uninterrupted. And I'm sure as hell not going to break that promise just because you asked me to." She explained, before summoning a cyan spear in both of her hands.

Unfortunately for Undyne, the Monsters' and human's patience had just worn out. In a moment's notice, Undyne was wrapped in a blue aura of magic as Verdana and Alric worked together to move Undyne aside, allowing them all to enter the lab unimpeded.

"HEY, what the hell do you think you're doing?!" She screamed, quickly running to try to intercept the mob. She was unsuccessful, as they were all now in the main room of the lab.

There were still burn marks in the floor, ceiling, and walls surrounding the QMA, but they seemed to have been cleaned up a bit by now. In the center of the former debris field stood an older version of the device, being worked on by Alphys as she ran around it, making sure everything was properly hooked up.

However, they all froze to look at another individual in the lab.

Mister Jordan Sower knelt down on his knees and steadied himself with his hands as steam poured off of his soaked clothes. A dim golden aura of energy and magic surrounded him as he stayed there, concentrating on something.

They took in the scene before them, before running over to comfort the fallen teacher, their previous anger quickly draining into concern.

"Oh, oh my friend, are you alright?" The ex-Queen quickly asked as she knelt down beside her colleague. Asgore was right behind her.

No sooner had she asked that question, the teacher tired from exhaustion and almost made hard contact with the ruined tile beneath him, before he was caught by his colleague and friend, Toriel.

Verdana, Alric, and Asriel ran over to help in any way they could as well. Together, they pulled over a nearby seat and helped Jordan into it.

Mister Sower took a few deep, shaky breaths as he slowly nodded his head, "J-just exhausted is all…" He tried to convince them, but no one really believed him thanks to his shaky voice.

Alric stood in front of Jordan and crossed his arms in front of his chest. Jordan knew what came next. "Jordan Sower, what happened to you? What was up with that glow? What were you doing?" Just as Jordan suspected, straight to questions that demanded answers. Before Jordan could speak, Alric's phone rang.

Upon taking it out of his pocket, his golden eyes began to sparkle in delight as his frown became a grin. His phone read 'Sans'. At once, Alric answered the phone.

"Sans, thank god! Where are you? What happened? Are you alright?"

Jordan tried to speak. To tell Alric that it wasn't Sans, but his exhaustion would not allow him.

The phone was on speaker, for everyone to hear. Even Alphys and Undyne came over to listen in. _"hey."_

 _"Is your refrigerator running?"_ He asked, confusing everyone.

"Sans, now is not the time for jokes. Are you alright?" Toriel asked.

"C'mon punk, tell us what's happening." Undyne cut in.

"S-S-Sans? H-how did you s-successfully c-call us?" Alphys asked, confused.

"B-brother, are you al-alright? How's Papy and Dad?" Verdana asked

For some odd reason, Sans did not reply. Instead, perhaps, he was waiting for a 'yes' or 'no'. Well, not really, but Jordan was still unable to form full sentences. His attempt at control had drained him much further than he thought it would.

Alric felt something wasn't fully right, so he tried to play along. "Yeah Sans, my refrigerator is running."

 _"nice. i'll be over to deposit the brewskis."_

"Wait, Wha-", Alric tried to ask, before they all heard the 'click', ending the call there. Alric seemed deep in thought for a moment, before his face began to pale. He slowly turned to Jordan to get confirmation, but before he could ask his question, Jordan silently nodded, confirming Alric's fears.

"No… FUN?" He asked slowly, prompting Alphys to take a step forward.

"Y-yes, while Jordan and I w-were working on updating the p-prototype QMA, we d-discovered rapidly fluctuating F-FUN values." She explained.

The three goats, fish, and the little skele all seemed confused by this term. "FUN?" Verdana asked, "S-Something tells m-me that FUN isn't really all t-thhat fun…"

Jordan, taking another deep breath, finally spoke. "FUN Values… they can alter the way timelines work… but only under certain conditions… and they normally cannot change unless a RESET occurs."

"So, this 'FUN value' caused this phone call?" Asriel asked, earning a confirming nod from Jordan.

Asgore spoke next in his deep voice, "If they can cause phone calls from people not even in the timeline anymore, what else can they do?" He seemed worried… but it certainly wasn't unwarranted.

Jordan took another deep breath before speaking again, "I only have a few ideas, but I'd rather not have them confirmed…" He then motioned to his weakened state, "We discovered this late last night… so since my golden magic can control the timeline, I've been using all my stamina to forcibly freeze the FUN value in place…"

Alric nodded and stroked his chin, "But FUN values are almost impossible to actually alter unless you dive into the code, which wasn't what you were doing…"

Jordan nodded, "It was not easy, hence my weakened state… honestly, it was like shoving your arm between a rolling set of gears. It… it fu-ricking sucked!" He quickly corrected himself, not wishing to earn his friend's anger for cursing in front of children.

"How'd the fluctuation even begin?" Alric asked. Jordan, however, passed out from exhaustion in his chair, prompting Toriel to pick him up and lead him over to a nearby couch.

Alphys answered, "I h-hypothesize that th-the unstable and qu-quickly broken connection t-to the other timeline c-caused it."

"Where'd they g-go?" The little skeleton girl asked.

Alphys rubbed her chin with a hand and sighed, "I-I'm not sure. B-but I think Jordan mentioned s-something l-like… ummm…. Renewtale?" She finished with a shrug.

Alric's face almost fully drained of color. R-Renewtale? Th-that timeline?

"My child, what's wrong?" Toriel asked, now returned from laying Jordan to rest.

Alric shook his head, "Th-that timeline… I-I went th-there once…" Alric paused for a moment before turning to Alphys, "Doctor Alphys, what did Core Frisk say when this happened?"

"Wh-what do you m-mean? H-how did y-you…"

"Yeah punk, you weren't there."

Alric shrugged, "They seem to show up every time we royally fuck up, so I just assumed."

"LANGUAGE ALRIC!" Toriel quickly interrupted, giving Alric one of her deadly 'mother' stares.

"S-sorry." He said, apologizing to his adoptive mother.

Undyne stepped forward to speak, "I don't know, just more stupid crap about how we're all dumb, and that we should stop messing with anything."

"What about the timeline?" He asked, hoping that the description would put his fears to rest.

Undyne thought for a moment before answering, "Something about their anomaly being one of the strongest anomalies in the multiverse, and that they could give even Error a run for his money at full power."

Alric slowly sat down and shook his head. He COULD try to go over there and travel between timelines. He knew how to, that's how he got here. However… "I… I think you should slow it down on your repairs…"

"Huh?" Alphys asked, now beside the QMA once more.

"She… the anomaly… I met her once… well, not like this. Mind you, I had enough sense to try to blend in… she's powerful… a great friend to those she trusts… but if you're her enemy… well…" He paused before taking a deep breath, "Like most timelines I checked out so long ago, I never really found my place there… And… I'd rather not face her… not after all this time… Hehe, she probably doesn't even remember me… After all, I'm not THAT memorable…" He ended bitterly, before her stood up and turned around.

"Just pray that they aren't her enemies." He finished, before leaving the lab, with Verdana and Asriel soon chasing after him to try to cheer him up.

Undyne turned toward the remaining parents, "Look Mr and Mrs Dreemur, I know you're worried about them, but Alphys and Jordan are taking care of it. Go watch over those three and let us handle it. We'll keep you updated. In fact, we might even be able to get it up and running here today or tomorrow."

They both nodded, "Understood, thanks Undyne." Asgore replied.

"Just… make sure those two don't overwork themselves." Toriel told her.

Undyne smiled and saluted. "Yes ma'am."

* * *

Both Gasters and the singular Sans all stood there before Lynsie in astonishment as various instruments around the lab sounded off in alarm at the power surge detected from the activation.

Her Anomaly State was back? How? How much power has returned?

So many questions, so little time.

" ✡ ✋💧 📬 🕈 💣🕆 👍 🏱 🕈 👎 ✡ 🕆 ✌✞ ✍ ✋💧 ✌ 💣✌ ✡ 💧❄✌❄ ✌❄ ✌ 🕆 👎 👎 🏱 👍 ❄ 👍✌🏱 ✌👍✋❄✡✍" (LYNISE. HOW MUCH POWER DO YOU HAVE? IS ANOMALY STATE AT A HUNDRED PERCENT CAPACITY?)

Lynsie wobbled a bit on her feet as the raw power of the Anomaly State flooded her senses for a moment, before evening out to a more manageable level. She hadn't experienced this since she renewed the timeline. And, in this renewed timeline, her body had never experienced this feeling.

"I.͘.̷. ̛I͞ ͝be̴liev̨e̸ ͝so..͘.́" She replied, with a strange filter on her voice from her Soul. It sounded almost like a glitchy autotune filter.

Her Gaster nodded, before running off to quiet the machines, leaving the alternate Gaster and Sans before her. They stood there, deep in thought for a moment, before speaking.

 _"so… what state are you in right now?"_

The other Gaster frowned and shook his head before turning to Lynsie, **_"THIS… THIS IS THE POWER MY INSTRUMENTS PICKED UP?"_** He asked quietly.

Lynsie nodded, which unnerved the two skeletons thanks to her pure white eyes, with only pure red, glowing irises to contrast with the white, "Ţhis̵ ̷is͡ the ̶A̧n͠om̕al̷y̧ Sta͞te̕.͞ It̵ allo̧ws̴ ̸m͏e to re̕pa̵ir͞ ́d͠amage̢d ̵c̕o͡d҉e̡, ҉r̢ig͢ht҉i̧n͟g҉ ͏t͢h̵é ͜wrong̷s iņ ͘ţhi͝s͞ un͡i̴v̵e̶rse.҉"

 _"damaged code? repairs? mind elaborating princess?"_ Sans asked, rubbing his boney hand along his chin as his eternal smile shrunk ever-so-slightly.

"I̷t's h͡ar̀d͡ ̕to ex̸p҉l͠ain͠..̶." She began, "̀T͞he҉ ͝cod̡é ̡is, ͟liķe, ̶t͢h͏e̡ ̸glue̕ ͠tḩa̧t̵ ҉ho̵ld̀s ̡t̡he ùniv҉er̡se͜ ̡t͢o͝gethe̸r,͡ ̷d͝i͝ct͡a̕t̕ing ҉how it w̕ǫrks҉ ͢an͝d͝ ͞r̛un͢s͞." She explained simply.

 ** _"AND THIS 'CODE' CAN BE INFLUENCED, SHAPED, AND ALTERED BY YOU WITH YOUR ANOMALY STATE?"_**

"P͠re͏c̷isèl͡y̧.", Lynsie said, smiling toward the two skeletons and nodding. "I̧t͘ ͟wa҉s̷ ̵th҉i͡s̢ p͡o̵w̛er҉ t͝hat̛ ̕ch̢a͞n̵ge̸d ͞t҉he͡ t̕i̧mel҉ine ͞to ͟hǫw y͠ou s̵ee̛ i̶t no͟w̵.̀ ̨"

Sans' sockets grew, _"that much power… something stronger than determination. are there limits to this power?"_

Gaster returned, now that the lab was no longer having a crisis, and spoke up for Lynsie. "✋❄ ✌💧 👌 👌💧 ✞ 👎 ❄ ✌❄ 👎 ✋ ✠❄ 💧✋✞ 👎✋❄✋ ✈🕆✋ 💧 ✋💣💣 💧 👍 👍 ❄ ✌❄✋ ✌ 👎 ✡📬 ✌ 👎 ❄ ❄✋👍✌ ✡📪 ✋❄ 💧 🕆 👎 🕈 😐 ✋😐 ✡ 🕆 🕯👍 ✌❄✋✞✋❄✡🕯📪 🕈 ✋❄ 👍✌ ❄ 👍❄ ❄ ✋ 💧 👌 ✡ 👎 ✋❄💧 🕆 ✋✞ 💧 ✋ ✋ 📭" (IT HAS BEEN OBSERVED THAT DOING EXTENSIVE EDITING REQUIRES IMMENSE CONCENTRATION AND ENERGY. AND THEORETICALLY, IT SHOULD WORK LIKE YOUR 'CREATIVITY', WHERE IT CANNOT AFFECT THINGS BEYOND ITS UNIVERSE OF ORIGIN.)

The other Gaster turned toward hers, **_"BUT HOW DOES IT AFFECT THOSE OF US THAT DON'T BELONG HERE? ARE WE, TOO, IMMUNE FROM HER POWER? OR MAYBE, PERHAPS, OUR CODE WAS INTEGRATED UPON OUR ARRIVAL?"_**

 _"that's a good hypothesis g. it's either one of those two… or option number three. maybe it's a bit of both. maybe our code was integrated partially, but since we're still foreign, it'd affect us slightly differently."_

"❄ ✋💧 👍✌ 💧 ✌ 💧👍✋ ❄✋ ✋👍 ✠🏱 ✋💣 ❄✏" (THIS CALLS FOR A SCIENTIFIC EXPERIMENT!) Gaster exclaimed, excited to work with the Anomaly State once more.

Lynsie took a deep breath and forced her Soul back inside her as she dispersed the energy of the Anomaly State, allowing it to go dormant for the time being. Her eyes returned to their normal, not unnerving selves. "As nice as this sounds, I'm against using Human or Monster test subjects on something with so many variables."

Both Gasters seemed to want to say something to that, but their ideas were shot down by a glare from both Sans and Lynsie. It looked like they wouldn't be using live subjects for this.

 ** _"… AGREED…"_** The alternate finally admitted, **_"THEN, PERHAPS, WE SHOULD TRY IT ON AN INANIMATE OBJECT?"_**

Sans reached into his pocket and pulled out his empty syringe that he'd been holding on to. _"how 'bout this? she could try to fill this syringe with a concentrated dosage of a soul trait. or, at least, simply alter it in some way?"_

Gaster nodded, "✡ 💧📪 ✌ 💧✌ ✠🏱 ✋💣 ❄📬 💧💣✌ 💧👍✌ ✌ 👎 💧✋💣🏱 📪 ✡ ❄ ✋ ✋ 🕆 💧📬 ✋🕯👎 ✠🏱 👍❄ ❄ ✋ 💧💧 ✡ 🕆📪 💧✌ 💧📬" (YES, A SAFE EXPERIMENT. SMALL SCALE AND SIMPLE, YET INGENIOUS. I'D EXPECT NOTHING LESS OF YOU, SANS.)

Sans' grin widened as he scratched the back of his skull, _"gee, thanks other g."_

Lynsie smiled, "I knew you'd be smart punny bones, but my Anomaly State doesn't really work like that…"

 _"okay, then another idea… what about this 'scanning' that g's told me about. he mentioned that your anomaly state allowed you to scan… how'd you put it g?"_

"❄ ✌ 💣✌ ✡ 💧❄✌❄ ✌ 🕈 👎 ❄ 💧👍✌ ❄ 👍 👍 👎 💧 ❄✋❄✋ 💧📪 ❄❄✋ ✌ 💣 ✋ 📫👎 🏱 ❄ ✌ ✌ ✡💧✋💧 ❄ ✋ 👎✋✞✋👎🕆 ✌ ❄ ✌ ✌ 💧✋💣🏱 👍 👍😐📬" (THE ANOMALY STATE ALLOWED HER TO SCAN THE CORE CODES OF ENTITIES, GETTING A MORE IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS ON THE INDIVIDUAL THAN A SIMPLE CHECK.)

 _"yeah, that. try scanning good ol' g, and then try to scan me. a scan sounds like it's minimally invasive, with nothing that could really go wrong other than getting an error."_

 ** _"BRILLIANT IDEA SANS. SIMPLE, EASY, QUICK, AND SAFE. THE PERFECT COMBINATION."_**

" ❄🕯💧 ❄ ❄ 🕈 😐📬" (LET'S GET TO WORK.)

Lynsie smiled, "Let's do this!"

The three skeletons nodded as they all got to work to prepare for the experiment. Sure, they could do it right then and there, but doing so left risks to the experiment.

After spending the next twenty minutes setting things up, they were ready.

Before them was a sealed chamber, with 5-inch-thick laminated polycarbonate, or bullet-proof glass, serving as the blast-resistant window. This would normally be used for more dangerous experiments, but this would serve well as an 'enclosed, controlled environment'. Especially with the new 'window' in the lab.

The four of them smiled at their handiwork.

 _"you ready princess?"_ Sans asked as he closed the door to the camber behind them, leaving himself, her, and her Gaster in the camber alone.

Lynsie nodded, closing her eyes and concentrating as she willed the Anomaly State to re-awaken. A small power surge went through the lab as her power returned, but it was much less powerful and shocking this time around. Her Soul exited her body and began to rapidly change colors as her eyes white with red irises once more. She smiled.

"A̶no͏m̨al͡y ͟St͠ate͡ ̢i̡s̶ ͞pr͏epp͠ed̡ ҉and̡ ͝r͠ead͢y̨.̷ ̶"

The other Gaster nodded. **_"TESTING CHAMBER 2 IS READY FOR EXPERIMENTATION."_** He remained outside of the chamber to collect any important data from the sensors as the experiment occurred.

 _"hey, if you don't mind me asking, what's up with the red eyes. you remind me of a certain ghost-child i knew."_

 _"_ M̨y̶ S͠ou̸l c̀h͠an̶g̛es d͢omin̡an͝t̕ ̛c̀olor b͜a͡s̨e̴d̴ on͡ ͞ţhę ͏s̴ţro͜nge͟st҉ ͘emot͢įon ̵I̴'m f͜e͠eĺin͢g a͘t͠ ͡th͘è ̛ti̶me͟. Wh̷en̶ ͢i̷n̕ m̶y Ano͝ma҉l͜y̶ S̵tat͏e, ̛a͜l̀l͞ the c͞olo͝rs kind̶-of m̴esh t̢o̴geth̶ęr. Ho̡w̵ȩvȩr,͡ ̕th͡è domin̵an͏t ͟col͟or of̸ ͡my̶ ͠S̴ou̡l at̵ ̴t̢he ̡tim̷e can̸ 're͜śi̶s̸t҉'́ ͢thi͢ś ͘'mes̢hing of̛ col̵o̵ŕs' b̶y̕ pr̢e͏se̴nting͝ ͡i̛ts͠e͝l̛f a͡s͢ m̡y ͡i̸ris̵e̵s i̢n t͡h̴is̵ s҉tat͠e. _"_

 _"cool. makes sense."_ Sans said with a smile, nodding.

Her Gaster turned around and smiled gently at Lynsie, extending his right hand toward her, "✡ 🕆 💣✌✡ 👌 ✋ 🕈 ✋❄ 👍 ❄ 💧✡ ✋ ✌ 🕈 ✌👎✡📬" (YOU MAY BEGIN WITH CONTROL SCAN WHEN READY.)

Lynsie nodded and took a deep breath as she slowly reached out to touch Gaster's outstretched hand. A quick jolt went up both of their bodies as the Anomaly State scanned its target.

"Co̢m͞m̡e͜nc̶i̴ng d͟áta s҉can."  
̷  
"Sk̸el͡e͢ton҉. Fi̧l͡e̵ ǹam̴e:̵ GÁSTER͝.̴"  
́

So far so good. Let's see what data she reads off. The alternate Gaster eagerly took notes, multitasking with his attention on both the various instruments and the scene unfolding.

"̀6̀6666͝ ͢H̨P,͞ ͡6666 ̢ATK,̀ ̷66̴6͢6 ̨D͡E͡F́. R͢oy̛a͜l̶ Sc̴įen͝t̨ist̨ w͏h͠o͏ was͝ ͏on͢će forgot͠te͜n̶.͏"

The Gaster in front of her nodded with a small smile, "❄ ✌❄🕯💧 ✌👌 🕆 ❄ ✋ ❄📬 💧 💣💧 ❄ 👍 ❄ ✠🏱 ✋💣 ❄ 🕈 ✌💧 💧🕆 👍👍 💧💧 🕆 📬" (THAT'S ABOUT RIGHT. SEEMS THE CONTROL EXPERIMENT WAS SUCCESSFUL.)

Sans chuckled, _"that's cool. do me, do me."_ He reached out slowly and brushed his palm against her shoulder, earning him a quick jolt as well. _"ouch. jeez princess, that was quite shocking."_

 ** _"NOT THE TIME, SANS."_** His father said over the intercom.

"S̵kelȩto͘n.͏ Fi͞l̀e͠ ̡n͡a̢me:́ SA͏N͝S̷"̴  
̶  
"1 ͏HP̸,͠ 1 ATK, ̶1̀ ͜DEF.̛ Th͢e ̵eas͞ies̀t en͢e̴my. ̶C͟a͏ǹ ͘onl̴y ̨d͢o͜ ̶1͜ da͠ma҉ge̵.͠"  
̢

Sans shrugged, _"she's got me there."_

"💧 💣💧 ✋😐 ✌ ❄ 💧🕆 👍👍 💧💧📬" (SOUNDS LIKE ANOTHER SUCCESS)

"̢Er͝ror ͢d̨e̶tec̛ted͠ ͝in ҉pre͜s̵e̷nte̸d ̷c̛o̕r̢e co̴de.͟ ̶'F̀i͝le҉ ̴ńame͘:͏ ̀S̨A̡N͜S̷'͞ c͡ontr̀a͞di͝c͜ts p͢re̢vįơu̴s da̛ta."

 _"welp… guess it was too soon to call it g."_

"🕈 ✌✋❄📪 ❄🕯💧 💧 🕈 ❄ ✌ 👍❄💧 📬" (WAIT, LET'S SEE HOW THE ERROR AFFECTS HER.)

"͠U̷p͟d̷a̧t̨i̢ng ͞c̷o͢r̷e̵ co͡de͏ w̢i̢t͏h ͞ne̷w͜ ̵d̢ata." She paused for a moment, before speaking again, "U̴pda̕te͏ c͞ompl̀e͠t͝e̕.͜"͢

 _"so… is it all better now. can you hear us princess?"_

̀"Yes, ̴Í c͡an ͏he͘ąr̕ ̢you͘.́ I̛t's̕ ju̶s̸t.̨..͝ ͢da̧mn,̢ I'd ́f̕orgơt̛t͢en͡ ̵ho͠w҉ ̕w͏eird̸ thi̵s̶ félt.͘"͝

 ** _"DO YOU REMEMBER THE SCAN? WHAT YOU SAID?"_**

"͘Í r͝em͞e̵mbȩr̢.҉ ̶S̨can̸n̵in̷g͠ is͢ w̨e̴i̷r͡d,̀ ͜alm͏o̶s͝t fe͢lt ͞co͠mpel͝led to̧ s͞p̕ew ỳou͘r͜ '̴d̴ialo͜g̕' ͡a͞g̨ąín."́

"🕈 📪 ❄ ✌ 😐 ✡ 🕆 ❄ 👎 ✋ 💧 📬 ✋❄ 🕈✌💧 👎👎 🕆 ❄ ✋ 💧❄ ❄✋💣 📬 ✡ 🕆 ✞ ❄ 🕆💧 👎 ❄ ✌ ✋ ✡ 🕆 🕈 ✞ ✋👍 🏱 ✌✡ 👎 👌✌👍😐 ✡ 🕆📬" (WELL, THANK YOU FOR NOT DOING SO. IT WAS ODD ENOUGH THE FIRST TIME. YOU NEVER GET USED TO HEARING YOUR OWN VOICE PLAYED BACK FOR YOU.)

Lynsie took another deep breath, put away her Soul, and disabled her Anomaly State. She opened her eyes once more to show they were, once again, normal.

"Sooo… I'm going to go out on a limb and say that your code was successfully implemented upon arrival, but it's caused inconsistencies thanks to there being two of you guys."

 _"i agree. for now, i'd recommend being careful with the… inconsistencies."_

"✋ ✌ 📬 🏱 🕆 💧📪 ❄ 🕯💧 👎 🕆 👌❄ ✋ 💣✡ 💣✋ 👎 ❄ ✌❄ 💧👍✌ ✋ 📬📬📬 🕈 ✌❄🕯💧 ✋💧 ✌💣 ✍ ✌ ✠✍ ✡ 💧📪 💧👍✌ ✋ 💧 💣 🕈 👎 💧 🕯❄ ✌✞ ✌ 👍 👍 👎 👎🕆🏱 ✋👍✌❄ 👍 🕆 👎 👍✌🕆💧 ✋💧💧🕆 💧📬" (I AGREE. PLUS, THERE'S NO DOUBT IN MY MIND THAT SCANNING... WHAT'S HIS NAME? ALEX? YES, SCANNING SOMEONE WHO DOESN'T HAVE A CORE CODE DUPLICATE COULD CAUSE ISSUES.)

Lynsie nodded, "That makes sense."

 ** _"IF WE'VE GOT TIME, WE CAN GO OVER THE DATA COLLECTED FROM THE EXPERIMENT."_** The alternate Gaster recommended. The three of them in the chamber nodded, walking toward the exit door to go over everything they've learned thus far.

* * *

After a few other small tests were conducted, it was time for Lynsie to go. She hadn't told anyone back at the castle that she'd be gone, so her mom was likely freaking out. Plus, breakfast was probably ready by now since she's been gone for a few hours.

Both Gasters decided to stay in the lab, continuing to work on the QMA and monitor the FUN values. They'd agreed to contact her the moment they learn anything new, but also suggested that she inform the rest of her family about these revelations.

So far, they've learned that scanning both the 'originals' from this timeline, and the 'alternates' from the other, begins and occurs relatively identical to one another. However, upon scanning those from the other timeline, her Anomaly State would detect errors and inconsistencies when compared to previously compiled data.

Due to this, and the 'system' as a whole won't identify them as separate, different entities, so it will try to correct and update the data to take into account the new 'inconsistencies'. Also, it's hypothesized that scanning or dealing with Alex, the other Anomaly, would likely cause large-scale errors, or even an entire system failure and reboot.

Therefore, it was recommended that she try to restrain her use of her Anomaly State on Alex until he can be properly accounted for. After the overview of the results and theories, the two Gasters resumed their work for the time being and Sans prepared to take her back to the castle.

Sans reached a hand out toward Lynsie, _"ready for a shortcut, princess?"_

She smiled and nodded, "Yes please."

In a flash, they vanished from the lab, reappearing shortly thereafter back in the castle, right outside of her bedroom.

Unfortunately, before she could say anything, her thoughts were interrupted by a shout. The voice was a loud, female voice, whom she quickly identified it as the alternate Chara's.

"How many times?!"

"I don't need to explain anything!" She identified this voice as her brother, Chara.

The other Sans and Lynsie both looked at each other, thinking the exact same thing. In a heartbeat, they ran down the hall toward the argument.

There, she saw the younger, alternate, female Chara arguing with Lynsie's brother. He was held back from his alternate by Asriel, while the alternate Chara was held back by her sister, Frisk.

"Did you enjoy it? Did the dust flowing between your fingertips excite you?!" The alternate Chara spit at her brother, her words filled with venom.

"And what do you know about me? How long were you stuck in a timeloop?" He shot back, struggling against Asriel's grip.

"You act all high and mighty, as if you could never do any wrongs, but I know you!" She replied, "Timeloops have nothing to do with murder. There's no excuse. Do you really think that you're above consequences?"

"Of course I'm not above consequences. I know what I did, but what about you, little miss perfect? I can see the blood on your hands. An LV of 3? Ha, even I'm clean of LOVE. So, whoever you killed… they're still dead in your world! At least I was willing to fix my mistakes."

The foreign Chara struggled as hard as she could against her sister's grip, wanting to do nothing more than silence her alternate. "YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT MY PAST!"

"That's enough!" Lynsie shouted, trying to stop the bickering and fighting. She first turned to the other Chara, "You have no idea that pain and horrors my brother had been through." Then she turned to her brother, "And brother, must you really try to take the moral high ground against another version of you. If anything, I'd expect you to be sympathetic."

Although they both certainly heard her, neither seemed placated. Perhaps, if they both saw her active the Anomaly State, it'd get their attention. Plus, they should then quickly realize that it's not the time for this bickering. Sure, she should probably be careful when using the Anomaly State with those from another timeline, but another simple scan couldn't hurt, right?

She took a deep breath and summoned forth her power. Her eyes glowed white once more with red irises as she looked directly at the other Chara. Both of them stopped struggling against their siblings and stared at her in awe.

"What the heck?" The alternate Chara was closer to her, so she reached an arm out in curiosity, touching Lynn's arms gently, before a shock surprised her, sending Chara falling to her butt. "Ouch!"

"C̵o̴mme̡nci͜ng̕ ͠d͟a͢t͞a͠ s̀can.͜ "

"Sister? B-but how?"

"H͏u̵man̵.͡ ͞Fi̢l̴e n̴a̶m̶e̴:̕ C͝H͝AR̶A̷ ̕DRE̶ĘM̵U̡R̴R͞"

"Sister, I think you should stop." Asriel said, finally speaking.

"28̶ HP͏, ̵14 ͟A͜TK,͜ ̢10͠ ̀D̵EF. ̶T̵h̴e̕ ghostly͢ ͟1̴st́ ̷fa̵l͘le̸n͜ ͠ch͢i̷ld̀. Lìk̡e̶s ̴Kniv͟e̡s. ͞H͢at̕e̷s ̸H̴u̢mani̕ty͢."

The alternate Chara's face paled as she heard those words spoken about her. She had not heard those words in a long time. No longer trying to get at the prince, Lynsie's brother stepped forward.

"Lynsie…" He said softly, "How did this happen?" He asked, lightly gripping her arm and turning her towards him. He, too, suffered a quick shock as she began to scan him, interrupting a full scan of the alternate Chara.

"Com̴men͏c̶in̡g d͝a̶t̴a̵ s͠ca̸n.̢" She paused for only a moment, "H̸uman̷. Fil̨e ̵name:̵ CH͜AR͡A̸ DRE̴EM͘ƯR̢R͝"

Chara nodded, "Yes, that's me. Now listen, turn this off, it may not be fully stable."

"E̵rr͜or͏. ̴C̀o҉d͢e p̷a̢radox̛ ͢d͢e͘tected.͝ ͡M͟u͟ltiple̸ ̨co͘res̢ d̛e͞t͠ec͏te͢d͘ using̢ s̷a̛me͠ f̸ile ̢d͠esi͝g͝na͢tion̵."

Chara turned back around to his alternate, "Look what you've done! She never would have done this if you didn't start this."

"Me?! You're supposed to be the 'morally superior responsible adult'!" She shot back.

"Pa͞ra͠do҉xi͡ca̴l ̶ḑa͠t̛a ͡c͝a̶nno͞t ̡be͠ r̴e͟cti͟fied. R͠eb̕oot n͜ec̸es͢sary.̛" She said, before falling perfectly silent as she froze into place, not moving any further.

"Shut up, you idiots!" Asriel shouted, pointed at Lynsie, "If you two idiots haven't noticed, Lynsie's Anomaly State somehow turned back on, and all you two care about is who is morally superior?"

The alternate Chara took a deep breath and frowned, lowering her head a bit in shame, "I'm sorry Azzy…"

Prince Chara took a deep breath as well and nodded, "Me too… I apologize."

"Good, now that you're done fighting, why don't you two go get mom and dad. Together."

Both Charas shot each other a dirty look, before sighing and giving in. After just another moment, they left to go get the King and Queen. Sans, himself, vanished, likely going to retrieve the Gasters and inform them about the newest revelation. Once they were out of earshot, Asriel sighed and turned around to look at Frisk, who stood next to him.

"Seems Chara's always a bit hot headed, eh?" Asriel said with a light smile on his snout.

Frisk nodded, before pointing at Lynsie with a sad smile, "Is… is she going to be okay?"

Asriel shrugged, "I think she'll be fine. Never seen her crash like this before though…"

"Has she always been able to do this?" Frisk asked, waving a hand back and forth in front of Lynsie's face.

Asriel shook his head, "Not really. She learned about it in the Underground… but ever since we've gotten our 'happy ending' she's been unable to access it."

"So… do you think us coming here triggered something?" Frisk asked, worried that she might be partially to blame when it comes to Lynsie's current condition.

Asriel smiled warmly at the alternate Frisk, "Don't worry about her. She should be fine when she finishes rebooting… but as for your question… it seems very likely that your arrival has something to do with this."

* * *

 _As a child you would wait_

 _And watch from far away._

 _But you always knew that you'd be the one_

 _That work while they all play._

Alex bobbed his head up and down a bit to the music as he walked out the front entrance to the MTT hotel. He'd just had a quick complimentary continental breakfast, before leaving to explore the town once more.

 _In youth you'd lay_

 _Awake at night and scheme_

 _Of all the things that you would change,_

 _But it was all just a dream._

Alex loved this song, making it a perfect song to start listening to as he began walking. The earbuds were snugly fit in his ears as he continued to listen to the song, bobbing his head up and down still as he stepped and walking in pace with the music..

 _Here we are, don't turn away now,_

 _We are the warriors that built this town._

 _Here we are, don't turn away now,_

 _We are the warriors that built this town_

 _From dust._

 _Will come_

 _When you'll have to rise_

 _Above the best and prove yourself,_

 _Your spirit never dies!_

 _Farewell, I've gone to take my throne above,_

 _But don't weep for me_

 _'Cause this will be_

 _The labor of my love._

Alex couldn't help it as he moved his clenched fists as if he were playing drums. Granted, he had no musical talent when it came to drums… or any instruments for that matter, but he still couldn't help it. He had a smile on his face, despite his lack of sleep.

 _Here we are, don't turn away now,_

 _We are the warriors that built this town._

 _Here we are, don't turn away now,_

 _We are the warriors that built this town_

 _From dust._

Now he moved on to the 'guitar solo', pretending he was rocking out with the band as he walked down the sidewalk, mouthing out the words silently as he sang along in his head. He didn't have much of a singing voice and he was pretty self-conscious, so audibly singing was almost always out of question.

 _Here we are, don't turn away now,_

 _We are the warriors that built this town._

 _Here we are, don't turn away now,_

 _We are the warriors that built this town_

 _From dust._

The song ended as he came to a temporary stop, looking up at the mountain in the distance. He could still see the large castle atop the mountain. Based on some of the pamphlets he'd seen in the hotel, he now knew with certainty that it was the Dreemurr's Castle.

His research also revealed that they had three children. Two adopted humans and their biological son Asriel. Apparently, Chara was a prince here, and the other human was some woman named Lynsie. That wasn't a name he recognized, but it really didn't matter too much. Alex just wanted to get home, and going to the castle would likely only get him into even more trouble. After all, Anomalies were looked down upon by some, and hunted down by others. He wasn't going to take that chance.

Now that he had a moment to think, he paused his music and began to brainstorm. This town would soon be hard to navigate and explore thanks to his meltdown at Grillbys and his damages at the hotel. There was no doubt in his mind that there were cameras that captured his appearance at both locations, so it would only be a matter of time before law enforcement came after him. So… what should he do?

Then, it hit him!

The Underground! If he could get there, he could hide out in Sans' old lab. There's so many pros to this idea that it really stuck. Sans would, no doubt, have plenty of supplies there, and since it's so important to him, he'd eventually turn up and possible help Alex out. Plus, with the machinery there, that'd be a likely spot for a portal into this timeline, once the QMA was fixed, that is.

And, based on the approximate location of the castle, the main entrance to the Underground appeared to be concealed and under protection, meaning the Underground would make it difficult for others to go after him if they discovered his plans. Emphasis on 'they'!

Alex knew where the hole was that led to the ruins. And even if Chara was alive in this timeline now, there'd be no way that Toriel would have removed the soft flowers from their old grave site. This plan was perfect. And, to top it all off, his talk with Burgerpants only served to make his idea an even better option.

The Monsters were obviously hiding a huge secret, which must have something to do with the Underground. Based on the way he evaded his questions, there must be a reason why he didn't acknowledge its existence. So, getting to the Underground is both his best bet and the safest option available.

Plus, to make things even better, getting to Mt. Ebott shouldn't be very hard either, just time consuming. One of the pamphlets that he read said something about it being a nature preserve, or national park, or something like that. Either way, that meant it was open to the public, so going there shouldn't raise any red flags or anything.

Smiling and Determined, Alex began his journey toward the 'cursed' Mount Ebbot.

The Mountain from which no one returned. A perfect place to hide out!

* * *

 ** _Quick Note:_** Alex was listening to _'Warriors'_ by Imagine Dragons.


	9. Updates and New Arrivals

**Remember: Spoilers for Undertale, my story, and R.I.P Lynn's are contained within this story. **

**If you'd rather not be spoiled in any of those three ways, please stop now and go read the other stories or play the game. (It's worth it!)**

 **If you need another reminder/overview of either of our stories, please go back to chapter one or two to check them out.**

 **Thanks again to R.I.P. Lynn for making this possible.**

 **Now, time to check on everyone!**

* * *

 **Chapter Nine:** Updates and New Arrivals

The lab was unnaturally silent. That is... until now...

All of a sudden, the ruined room was filled with a sound similar to a whirling engine, before calming down to a more quiet hum.

"Yes!", Alphys cheered loudly, having finally succeeded in upgrading the powering up the prototype QMA. It stood in the center of the lab, looking very similar to the upgraded version of it. The heart symbols on the joints all glowed different colors as the portal frame housed a white, colorless vortex. It, currently, would lead anyone who jumped through it no where. All it now required was the correct coordinates for the timeline in question, and it would connect and establish a link between them.

"Excellent work, Doctor Alphys." Jordan said with a smile, standing several feet away next to the main console. Undyne was right beside him a moment ago, before rushing forward to congratulate her girlfriend on a job well done.

"Amazing job Alphys, I knew you could do it!" She exclaimed, picking up the yellow reptile and enveloping her in a tight, yet loving embrace. Her yellow teeth were showing as she grinned proudly.

"Th-thanks." Alphys replied, stuttering a bit, before turning to Jordan. "We h-have the coordinates for th-the other timeline."

Jordan nodded, "Perfect, but now we need a game plan."

Alphys nodded as she was put back down onto the ground, but Undyne turned to Jordan in confusion. "Game plan? Let's boot this sucker up, connect to wherever the punks are at, and bring them home. Sounds like a piece of cake!"

"Y-yeah, except last t-time we tried to connect, th-the QMA overloaded. Plus, th-that one had m-more stabilizers, unlike th-the prototype."

Jordan nodded, "So a direct connection and a nonstop portal won't work right now. And, we can't risk the prototype overloading. If we lose the prototype... without Gaster, getting them home will take weeks, if not longer."

"So what?" Undyne asked, pumped and ready for action, "You all said it yourselves. They could be in danger. I say, let's risk it!"

Alphys shook her head, "U-Undyne, w-we can't. We need a pl-plan."

Jordan stroked his chin as he thought aloud. "Let's see. If I had to guess, the prototype would only be able to connect to the Renewtale for just under a minute, before we risk an overload. Now, with such a small window, opening a two-way gateway is not feasible..."

Alphys nodded in agreement, "R-right. I-I mean, we c-could do it, but we don't know wh-where the portal will open o-or where everyone e-else is. So, if we p-put the portal cl-close enough to them, we could br-bring them back... but th-that's not likely."

Undyne remained silent for a moment before she snapped her fingers, "So, send me!"

"Wha-!?" Alphys exclaimed, before Undyne continued.

"If I go through, I could find them and bring them back to where I came in. Then, you just open the portal and let us back through. Easy, peasy."

Jordan hummed in thought for a moment before sighing and nodding, "Unfortunately Alphys, your girlfriend is right. Sending her in might be our best bet.

"B-but what if it's d-d-dangerous, like U-Underfell?!" Alphys quickly stuttered out, terrified.

Undyne knelt down and put a hand on Alphys' shoulder, "I'll be fine Alph." She reassured her, "I'm the toughest Monster in the Underground, remember. The badass Spear of Justice." She said with a wide grin, "Not even that evil, edgy version of me couldn't keep me down!"

"Y-you're right..." Alphys admitted, looking down, "Y-you're always r-right..."

Undyne sighed and wrapped her arms around her girlfriend, hugging her tightly and closely, whispering, "I'll be careful Alphys, I promise."

After a moment and a few deep breaths, Alphys nodded, "Thanks Undyne."

Undyne nodded back and stood back up after breaking off the hug, "Give me a moment, I'll get my new armor." She said with an excited gleam in her eye. As soon as she disappeared for a moment, Jordan spoke.

"New armor?" He asked, confused.

Alphys laughed quietly, "W-well... Since the number of pr-projects that we've been working on h-have been decreasing, I've h-had more time for personal o-ones." She said, pausing for a moment and smiling fondly, "So for U-Undyne's birthday, I m-made her a new, state-of-the-art armor." She said proudly.

"Nice." Jordan replied with a smile, as Undyne returned to the room.

Undyne stood in a sleek and shiny new set of armor. Instead of the usual black, it was a pure white color, and made of some sort of magical metal alloy. It looked similar in design to the 'Undying' armor that Undyne would wear on the 'Genocide route'. The hearts on her gloves were red, like determination, while the large heart on her chestplate was yellow, like justice. Her eye-patch, too, was now a bright white color. This armor, although not was useful for stealth, was flashy and intimidating, like a white knight. Under her arm was a white knight-like helmet. She was grinning widely with pride at her new armor set.

"Amazing armor Undyne." Jordan complemented, truly impressed. "Alphys, what is that armor made of?"

Alphys smiled and nodded, "Well, it's made of the s-same metal alloy that the lab is composed up, making her r-resistant to many forms of m-magic. Plus, I g-got the King and Q-Queen's help to enchant it, making it m-much more resistant to h-heat."

Undyne nodded, "It's the damn coolest armor in the whole world!"

"Indeed." Jordan said, nodding, "So, you know what to do?"

Undyne smirked, "I'll hop through the portal, find everyone, and lead them back to where I entered, right?"

Alphys nodded, "Y-yes, we'll r-reopen the portal in twenty-four h-hours."

Jordan continued, "If you have any issues, report back alone and twenty-four hours and we'll come up with a new plan from there."

Undyne shook her head, "Or..." She summoned a cyan energy spear in each hand, "I could bash some heads together if there's trouble, and drag them back through the portal." Undyne said, smirking.

Jordan sighed, "Yes, you could do that... but remember, we don't have much intel on the timeline, itself. We know the Anomaly is powerful, but not much else. For all we know, it could be another Underfell situation."

Undyne unsummoned her spears and punched her fist into her other palm, "Then it sucks to be them."

Alphys walked back over to the main console and synced the display with the data collected from the other QMA before its meltdown. All it needed now was someone to press 'confirm'. "R-ready Undyne?"

"Hell yeah!"

"O-ok. On three. Th-three... two... one... go!" Alphys said, pressing 'confirm' as the white vortex gave way to a swirling mass of colors, signaling the connection to the other timeline.

Undyne ran forward, towards the QMA prototype with both hands on an energy spear in front of her and her helmet over her face, charging forward in her white armor. "NGAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!", she cried as she charged into the vortex, disappearing from the lab as the QMA was immediately shut down.

The Lab was silent once more as the two remaining people within it stood in silence for a moment.

"Alphys, I'll go update the Dreemurrs. Can you continue working on the QMA? Make sure it's running at peak efficiency?"

"Y-yes sir." She replied, getting quickly to work as Jordan walked off to make a phone call.

* * *

It was late morning, fairly close to noon as the group of monsters from both timelines assembled together. Lynsie, having finished rebooting after the Chara argument, had recommended that everyone assemble in the throne room together to go over everything they know so far, and to see if any sort of leads had arisen overnight with both returning the newcomers to their timeline and locating Alex.

The King, Queen, princes, and princess all took their 'seats' in the throne room, with both of Lynsie's boneheads on either side of her, wearing their usual 'uniforms'. Other seats were brought in for the alternate Chara, Frisk, and Papyrus, while both Gasters and the alternate Sans chose to remain standing as they discussed everything.

They all waited for the final arrivals to the briefing, who arrived soon enough through the main entrance at the other end of the hallway.

"I'm here as requested, your majesty." Undyne said respectfully as she entered, wearing a sleek suit of black armor. Doctor Alphys wore her usual lab coat, following close behind her girlfriend.

King Asgore smiled gently and nodded, "Thank you Captain Undyne and Doctor Alphys. Please, come forward."

As they both approached the rest of them, their jaws loosened and hung ajar as they came to a complete stop before the royal family.

"I-I knew you s-said there was m-more of you g-guys…" Alphys started nervously, looking at the pair of Gasters, "B-but still… this is cr-crazy!"

"Holy sh-crap." Undyne said, looking at the alternate Frisk and Chara, "So you twerps were the ones who attacked me?"

"Actually… that was Chara. I was trying to talk things out." Frisk said quietly.

Chara rolled her eyes, "Yeah, 'cause flirting is ALWAYS the answer."

"W-wait, what?" Alphys asked, shocked. She asked the very question that many others present were wondering.

"Wait, wait, wait. Frisk did what?" Lynsie asked, having not heard about this fully.

Frisk's face quickly grew red as she giggled awkwardly, "I-I stand by my flirting. It worked in the Underground."

"kid… i think you have a problem." Sans said, standing beside Lynsie.

"AS I SAID BEFORE, I ONLY HAVE PLATONIC FEELINGS TOWARD YOU."

"YEAH FRISK, WHAT THE HANDSOME SKELETON SAID."

"WHY THANK YOU OTHER-ME, YOU'RE QUITE DASHING YOURSELF. NYEH HEH HEH!"

"All you boneheads are dashing." Lynsie said with a smirk, making both pairs of skele-bros blush heavily.

Asriel shook his head and face-palmed, "Please sister, it's bad enough we have one person flirting in here."

Prince Chara groaned, but nodded in agreement, "And I'd rather not have a repeat performance, thank you very much."

 _"anywho, why don't we start catching everyone up to speed, eh?"_ The other Sans cut in, trying to get everyone back on track as his blush faded, _"don't get me wrong, i'd love to just crack jokes all day, be we've got some jobs to do."_

 ** _"AGREED. WHY DON'T WE START WITH OUR NEWEST REVELATION: THE ANOMALY STATE."_** Gaster said, agreeing with his son.

Toriel nodded, "Yes. I believe you once said that it was no longer active?" She asked.

"✡ 💧📬 💧✋ 👍 ❄ 🕈✌ ❄ ❄✋💣 ✋ 📪 ❄ ✌ 💣✌ ✡ 💧❄✌❄ ✌👎 👌 ✋ ✌ 💧 ❄ 📬📬📬 ✋👌 ✌❄✋ 📪 ✋ ✡ 🕆 🕈 ✋ 📬" (YES. SINCE THE RENEWAL OF THE TIMELINE, THE ANOMALY STATE HAD BEEN IN A SORT OF... HIBERNATION, IF YOU WILL.)

"So, what caused it to reactivate?" The king asked in his deep, gentle voice, stroking his blonde beard slowly in thought.

The alternate Gaster stepped forward, **_"IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THE ROOT CAUSE OF THIS 'REAWAKENING' WAS MY CONNECTION WITH THE QMA TO THIS TIMELINE."_** He began, **_"UPON FURTHER STUDY, WE'VE DETERMINED THAT THERE'S A SIGNIFICANTLY POWERFUL AND IRREGULAR BARRIER PROTECTING THIS TIMELINE. THIS 'BARRIER' MADE DETECTION OF THIS TIMELINE IMPOSSIBLE, MUCH LESS AN ACTUAL CONNECTION TO IT."_**

"THEN HOW'RE YOU ALL HERE? IT SEEMS THAT YOU FOUND SOME WAY TO FIND US." The Papyrus next to Lynsie said, making both Sanses smile with pride.

 _"exactly other-pap. we shouldn't have been able to find it. that is, until we upgraded the original qma. you see, it originally searched for 'branches' of timelines. you see, like a tree, it's a lot easier to see and find branches, which can be traced down to the base 'trunk', or the original."_

"yeah, that makes sense. search for the easiest portion to detect, then work your way down." Lynn's Sans replied, "but i'm gonna take a wild guess and say there aren't many 'branches' off of this timeline."

"✌💧❄🕆❄ 👌💧 ✞✌❄✋ 💧✌ 💧📬 ❄ ✌❄ ✋💧 👍 👍❄📬 🕆 ❄✋💣 ✋ 📪 ✌💧 ✌ ❄ 📪 💧 💣💧 ❄ ✌✞ ✌ ✋ ✋ ✋❄ 💧✋💣✌ ✌💣 🕆 ❄ ❄✋💣 ✋ 👌 ✌ 👍 💧📬" (ASTUTE OBSERVATION SANS. THAT IS CORRECT. OUR TIMELINE, FOR ONE REASON OR ANOTHER, SEEMS TO HAVE AN INFINITESIMAL AMOUNT OF TIMELINE BRANCHES.)

"Ok, so because there weren't many branches, you couldn't find us?" Prince Chara asked, "But even then, with some branches existing, there should have been some sign of us before."

Gaster smirked, " ✠👍 ❄ ✌💧 ✋ 📪 💣✡ 🏱 ✋ 👍 📬 ❄ ✌❄ ✋💧 ✌ 💧 ❄ 🕆 📬 ❄ ✌❄🕯💧 🕈 ❄ ✋💧 🕯👌✌ ✋ 🕯 👍 💣 💧 ✋ 📬" (EXCELLENT REASONING, MY PRINCE. THAT IS ALSO TRUE. THAT'S WHERE THIS 'BARRIER' COMES IN.)

 ** _"THIS 'BARRIER' CONSTANTLY FLUCTUATES AND 'MOVES' THE BRANCHES, MAKING IT EVEN HARDER TO FIND ACCIDENTALLY. FURTHERMORE, THE BARRIER ALMOST SERVES AS A CLOAKING DEVICE, HIDING ITS VERY EXISTENCE FROM VIEW."_**

"Hmmmm." Asgore hummed in thought, "That still doesn't explain how you found this timeline in the first place."

 _"that's where the upgrade comes it. we doubled the power output of the core by upgrading it, then, rather than searching for branches, we began searching for souls."_ Sans explained, before motioning towards his father to continued.

 ** _"AFTER OUR PREVIOUS ENCOUNTERS WITH THE MULTIVERSE, I BECAME FASCINATED WITH SOUL TRAITS AND POWERFUL SOULS. SPECIFICALLY, THOSE FROM ANOMALIES. I MEAN, AFTER SEEING THE RAW POTENTIAL OF PURITY, CREATIVITY, AND FEAR, I KNEW THERE MUST BE EVEN MORE POWERFUL SOULS OUT THERE. THAT'S WHEN WE FOUND THE SIGNAL."_**

"✡ 🕆 💧 📪 ✡ 🕆 ✋ 💧💧 💧📪 ❄ 🕈 ✌💧 ✌ 🕆 ✋ ❄ 👎 👎 💧✋👎 📫 👍❄ 🕈 ✡ 💧✋ 🕈 👎 ❄ ❄✋💣 ✋ 📬 ❄ ✌🕈 🏱 🕈 🕆 💧 👎 ❄ 🏱 👍 💧💧 💧 ❄ ❄ ✋💧 🕯💧✋ ✌ 🕯 👌🕆 💧❄ 🕆❄ ✋ ✞ ✡ 👎✋ 👍❄✋ 📬 ✋❄ 🕈✌💧 ✞ 🏱 🕈 🕆 🕆 ❄ 💧👍✌🏱 ❄ 🕆 ❄ ✌ 📫 👍 💣🏱 ✌💧💧✋ 🕯👌✌ ✋ 🕯" (YOU SEE, YOUR HIGHNESSES, THERE WAS AN UNINTENDED SIDE-EFFECT WHEN LYNSIE RENEWED THE TIMELINE. THE RAW POWER USED FOR THE PROCESS SENT THIS 'SIGNAL' BURST OUT IN EVERY DIRECTION. IT WAS EVEN POWERFUL ENOUGH TO ESCAPE THROUGH THE ALL-ENCOMPASSING 'BARRIER')

"W-we think that it w-was even powerful enough t-to last out th-there for about a y-year. Th-that must have b-been what they f-found."

"So, you're saying that when I changed the timeline completely with Asriel and my Anomaly State, it sent a pulse out that went beyond this timeline?" Lynsie asked, getting a nod from all scientists present. "And, it bounced around out there for almost a year, before it was discovered by you guys?"

 _"precisely princess. but, of course, back when we found it a few days ago, we assumed it was much fresher. and using our knowledge of the multiverse and its workings, we traced it back to this timeline."_

Both Queen and King nodded as the former spoke, "So that explains how you found us, but it doesn't explain the reappearance of my daughter's power."

 _"don't worry your highness, we're getting there. we had to start from the beginning to reiterate how hard it was to find it and what challenges we had."_

"I don't understand." Asgore interrupted, "How do those challenges correlate with what's going on?"

 ** _"YOUR HIGHNESS, THAT BARRIER THAT WE MENTIONED… IT IS THE ROOT CAUSE OF THE PROBLEM."_**

"What?!" Several different individuals interrupted, before Gaster explained.

"✋❄ ✌🏱🏱 ✌ 💧 ❄ ✌❄ ❄ 🕯✋ ❄ 📫👎✋💣 💧✋ ✌ 👌✌ ✋ 🕯 🏱 👎 💣✌✋ ❄✌✋ ❄ 🕯👍 👎 🕯 ❄ ✋💧 🕈 👎📪 ✌ 👎 🏱 ✞ ❄ 👎 ✌😐💧 👎✌❄✌ 💣 👍 💣✋ ✋ 🕆 ❄📬 🕈 💣✡📬📬📬 ✌💧💧 👍✋✌❄ 📪 📪 🏱🕆 👍 👎 ❄ 🕆 ❄ 👌✌ ✋ ✌ 👎 👍 👍❄ 👎📪 ✋❄ 💧 ❄ ❄ 👌✌ ✋ ✋ ❄ 👍 ✌ 💧📬" (IT APPEARS THAT THE 'INTER-DIMENSIONAL BARRIER' HELPED MAINTAIN THE 'CODE' OF THIS WORLD, AND PREVENTED LEAKS OF DATA FROM COMING IN OR OUT. WHEN MY... ASSOCIATE, HERE, PUNCHED THROUGH THE BARRIER AND CONNECTED, IT SENT THE BARRIER INTO CHAOS.)

The other Gaster nodded, **_"UNFORTUNATELY, THIS 'CHAOS' LIKELY SPREAD TO OUR TIMELINE AS WELL, IN AN ATTEMPT TO CORRECT THE 'MISTAKE'. THIS 'CHAOS' HAS CAUSED THIS WORLD'S, AND LIKELY OUR'S, FUN VALUES TO FLUCTUATE AT AN UNSAFE RATE."_**

"FUN values. Why do those sound so familiar?" The queen asked, trying to remember where she'd heard it.

" 🕆 ✞✌ 🕆 💧 🕈 💣✡ 🏱 ✋ ❄💧 💧❄🕆 👎✡📬 ✋ 👎✋💧👍🕆 💧💧 👎 ✋❄ 👌 ✋ ✡ 👌 📬 ✋ 💧💧 👍 📪 🕈 ✋❄ ❄ 💣 🕆 👍❄🕆 ✌❄✋ ✋😐 ❄ ✋💧📪 ✋❄🕯💧 👍✌🕆 💧 👎 ❄ ✋ ❄ ✋❄✡ ❄ 🕯👍 👎 🕯 ❄ 👎 ❄ ✋ ✌❄ ✌💧 ❄ 🕆 ✋✞ 💧 💧🏱 ✋ 💧 🕈 ✋ 👎 ✡ 🕈 ✋❄ ❄ ✞✌ 🕆 💧📬" (FUN VALUES WERE ONE OF MY POINTS OF STUDY. I DISCUSSED IT BRIEFLY BEFORE. IN ESSENCE, WITH THEM FLUCTUATING LIKE THIS, IT'S CAUSED THE INTEGRITY OF THE 'CODE' TO DETERIORATE AS THE UNIVERSE SPINS WILDLY WITH THE VALUES.)

"What exactly are these 'FUN values' even for? Do they do anything other than trouble." Asriel asked.

Sans nodded, _"well buddy, you remember the resets, right?"_

An involuntary shiver went down Asriel's spine, but he slowly nodded, _"well, the same could be said to ol' chara over there, but… did you ever notice any differences in the resets. like getting a weird phone call in one, or seeing someone in a place they don't belong. you know, things that shouldn't be happening if time was truly resetting."_

Prince Chara crossed his arms and closed his eyes for a moment in thought before sighing and nodding, "Yes, that's right. If time truly RESET, than there shouldn't have been all those quirky little differences."

Asriel nodded in agreement, "Yeah, same here. I did notice odd little differences, but I just assumed it was just my imagination or that I forgot."

 ** _"EXACTLY. NONE OF THOSE DIFFERENCES SHOULD OR WOULD HAVE HAPPENED… THAT IS, IF IT WEREN'T FOR THOSE FUN VALUES. AS TIME RESETS, IT STRETCHES AND STRESSES THE UNIVERSE. FORCING SOMETHING TO BEND TO YOUR WILL ON SUCH A LARGE SCALE ALMOST ALWAYS HAS CONSEQUENCES. IN THIS CASE, FUN VALUES CHANGE AND ALTER SMALL LITTLE THINGS."_**

 _"but now, it seems they can do more than just 'tiny little things'. you see, there was only a hundred values: one through a hundred. but right now, there's at least several hundred values it could become. and it changes quickly, almost as if someone's hand was glued to the reset button."_

Lynn's skeletons' eye sockets darkened as the rest of her family gasped. "that bad?"

"THE RESET BUTTON?"

" 🕈📪 🕈📪 ✋❄ ✋💧 ✡ ✌ ✌ ✌ ✡📪 👌🕆❄ ❄ ✌❄ 👎 💧 🕯❄ 💣 ✌ 🕈 🕯 ✋ ❄ 👍 ✌ 📬 ✡🏱 ❄ ❄✋👍✌ ✡📪 💣✌ ✡ ✌ 💣✌ ✋ 💧 👍 💣 ✋ ❄ ✠✋💧❄ 👍 🕈 ❄ 🕆 ✞✌ 🕆 💧 👍 ✌ 👎 ✌💣✌❄✋👍✌ ✡📬 ✠✌💣🏱 📪 ✞✌💧❄ 🕆💣👌 💧 💧 ❄💧📬" (NOW, NOW, IT IS ONLY AN ANALOGY, BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN WE'RE IN THE CLEAR. HYPOTHETICALLY, MANY ANOMALIES COME INTO EXISTENCE WHEN THE FUN VALUES CHANGE DRAMATICALLY. FOR EXAMPLE, VAST NUMBERS OF RESETS.)

Lynsie took a deep breath and stood up, "So, with the FUN values fluctuating like this… this is how anomalies such as myself could come into play?"

Sans nodded, _"it seems so. now that i think about it…. many, many timelines we've connected to in the past had all reported extensive resets in the past, before large-scale changes came."_

"And you're saying that this kind of power and change… is happening right now?" Asgore concluded.

The three standing skeletons in the center of the room slowly nodded.

"What does this mean?" Prince Chara asked, "Having a few odd phone calls and random appearances sound just annoying, not dangerous."

"💣✡ 🏱 ✋ 👍 📪 ❄ ✌❄🕯💧 ❄ ❄ 🏱 👌 💣📪 🕆💧❄ ✌ 💧✋👎 👍❄📬 ✋ ❄ ✋💧 👍 ❄✋ 🕆 💧 ❄ 📬📬📬 ❄ 👍 👎 💣✋ ❄ ❄ ✡ ❄ 👍 👍❄ ✋❄💧 📬" (MY PRINCE, THAT'S NOT THE PROBLEM, IT'S JUST A SIDE EFFECT. IF THIS CONTINUES FOR TOO LONG... THE CODE MIGHT TRY TO CORRECT ITSELF.)

"Meaning…?" Prince Chara asked, waiting for him to finish his thought.

 _"meaning… the universe may try to correct the inconsistencies by… forcibly joining and fusing the two, separate timelines into one. or, forcibly rejecting one another and causing the destruction of one of the two timelines."_ Sans said, making every single person present's face pale and their mouths to hang open. Silence conquered the room for another minute, before the other Sans responded, his sockets still dark.

"well, what can we do? resets can be stopped, so how do we stop this?"

 ** _"THAT'S WHERE MY THEORY COMES INTO PLAY."_** Gaster pointed at Lynsie, making all eyes turn towards her, **_"THE ANOMALY STATE LIKELY REAWAKENED DUE TO THE THREAT THE FUN VALUES AND POSSIBLE FUSION POSE TO THIS WORLD AND OURS. MY THEORY IS THAT, BY USING THE ANOMALY STATE, PRINCESS LYNSIE MIGHT BE ABLE TO NOT ONLY BRING THE FUN VALUES BACK INTO CHECK, BUT ALSO INFLUENCE THE BARRIER AROUND THIS WORLD, MAKING TRAVEL LESS DANGEROUS AND 'CORRECTING' THE INCONSISTENCIES."_**

Lynsie smiled, hope in her eyes, "Then what are we waiting for? Tell me what you need me to do!"

"✌👍❄🕆✌ ✡📬📬📬 ❄ 🕯💧 ✌ 💧 👍 👎 🏱✌ ❄ ❄ ❄ ❄ ✡📬📬📬 ✌ 👎 ✋❄🕯 💣✌😐 ❄ ✋ 💧 ✌ 👌✋❄ 💣 ❄ ✋👍😐✡📬📬📬" (ACTUALLY... THERE'S A SECOND PART TO THE THEORY... AND IT'LL MAKE THINGS A BIT TRICKIER...)

 ** _"YOU SEE, PRINCESS, AFTER YOU LEFT THIS MORNING, WE DID SOME MORE DIGGING INTO THE EXPERIMENT. IT SEEMS THAT THE CODE OF OUR WORLD HAS BEEN ALMOST FULLY INTEGRATED INTO YOURS. THAT'S WHY MY SON, SANS, WAS SCANNABLE TO YOU, BECAUSE HE WAS AT LEAST PARTIALLY RECOGNIZABLE."_**

"Hey, what about earlier with me and the doofis on the throne?" Chara asked, sitting beside Frisk. Prince Chara glared at her as she continued, "Doc, when she scanned me, she read off my information from when I was a ghost. I hadn't heard that stuff since you made me fight Alex."

Gaster nodded, **_"THEN, THAT ONLY FURTHER PROVES MY THEORY. WITH THE STATE THE CODE IS IN NOW, YOUR ANOMALY STATE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO FIX THIS. YOU DO NOT HAVE ACCESS TO THE MOST IMPORTANT AND FOREIGN CODE FROM OUR TIMELINE. PURITY."_**

"Alex?!" Frisk asked, perking up when she heard mention of the Purity Trait. "How's he involved in this."

 _"like it or not kiddo, alex the the most central part of our timeline. if the two codes have mixed, then alex's individual code will be needed to fix this mess of ones and zeros."_ Sans said with a small smile.

Both Gasters nodded, "🕈 ✋👍 👌 ✋ 💧 🕆💧 ❄ 🕆 👌✋ 💧❄ 👍 👍 🕈📬 ✌ ✠📬 🕈 👎 ❄ ✋ 👎 ✋💣 ✌💧 💧 ✌💧 🏱 💧💧✋👌 📬 👍 🕆 👎📪 ✡ 💧✋ 💧 🕆 👎 👌 ✌👌 ❄ 💧👍✌ ✌ 👎 👍 🏱✡ ✋💧 👍 👎 📪 ✋✞✋ ❄ 💧 🕆 👍 💧 👍 💧💧✌ ✡ ❄ ✋✠ ❄ ✋💧📬" (WHICH BRINGS US TO OUR BIGGEST CONCERN NOW. ALEX. WE NEED TO FIND HIM AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. ONCE FOUND, LYNSIE SHOULD BE ABLE TO SCAN AND COPY HIS CODE, GIVING HER THE RESOURCES NECESSARY TO FIX THIS.)

"Should?" Prince Chara asked, getting angry at the lack of concrete ideas, "I'm sick and tired of all these hypotheticals and theories."

 _"sorry kiddo, that's how science works. it won't be proven until it works."_ Sans informed him, smirking a bit.

 ** _"AND, TO MAKE THINGS WORSE, WE'VE ALSO DETERMINED THAT ANY FURTHER ATTEMPTS TO TRAVEL TO OR FROM THIS TIMELINE WOULD ONLY WORSEN THE STATE THAT IT'S IN, SPEEDING UP THE PROCESS OF INTER-TIMELINE DECAY. THAT IS, UNTIL WE GET THINGS UNDER CONTROL."_**

Sans nodded, _"which basically means, if we want to go home, we have to find alex and fix this mess first."_

"So, Alex is our main concern now?" Lynsie asked, "Any leads on him yet?"

King Asgore nodded, "That is why I called Undyne here. I've tasked her with investigating any sort of leads. Captain Undyne, your report, please."

"Yes, your majesty." She said quietly, before stepping forward into the center of the group. The presenting scientists took several steps back to give her space. She smiled and nodded thankfully towards them.

Alphys put down a holographic projector on the ground beside Undyne for the presentation. It began to glow a soft green, before showing a three-dimensional map of the general Ebbot area.

"Now, here's what we've gathered so far. Sometime in the afternoon, yesterday, the five of you and Alex all arrived in different locations in the general Ebbot area." Five red dots appeared on the map. One on the mountain near Gaster's lab, two in separate locations near the MTT mall, one at the castle, and one by the elementary school. "These five dots show where you five reported that you awoke." She explained, letting everyone see the display.

"Now, based on these dots, it was determined that the sixth entry location could be anywhere, with no real limitations besides this ten-mile wide circle." A blue ring appeared on the screen, with a diameter of ten miles. There was a blue point on the map in the dead center of the circle, which landed on some random house in the suburbs. "This blue dot is the epicenter, where Gaster's lab is reportedly located in the alternate timeline. As you can see, all five dots were found within this circle." She explained.

"Now, normally, this would make things really hard, but that's where Grillby comes in."

She pressed a button, changing the 3D display into a photograph. The picture was taken from a table within Grillby's bar. It showed Grillby holding the arm of a human teenager. He wore a red and white striped sweater, with a pair of jeans and dark brown hair. He seemed to be staring directly into Grillby's glasses in this picture.

Frisk gasped, "Alex! That's him!"

Lynsie looked at the photo carefully for a moment before recognizing him. This was also the same child she saw die in her dream at the hands of Sans. Then, she looked closer and saw the pure fear in Alex's eyes as he looked at Grillby. "Why does he look so scared? Is there not a Grillby in your timeline?"

Sans frowned. He actually fully frowned, _"he looks terrified. any eye witness reports?"_

"The one who took this picture was another human patron, who wished to remain anonymous. He reported that the other human had come in and had a helping of Grillby's food. He paid for it and left a generous tip. It was what comes next that's interesting."

 _"what happened?"_

"He… he asked for you, Sans." Undyne admitted. "It was reported that he asked Grillby if he knew where you were. Grillby shrugged and Alex stood up to leave. Sensing something wasn't quite right, he reached out and grabbed Alex's arm."

"That doesn't explain why he looks so terrified." The Queen stated, looking on at the picture with worry.

"I dunno." Undyne said, "Alex apparently began to hyperventilate, before escaping Grillby's grip and taking off out the door. The bar patron said he took the photo because it all felt so… 'wrong' as he put it."

"undyne, what time did this happen?" The Sans beside Lynsie asked.

"About 1:30 pm. I talked to Grillby about the whole situation and his story matched up with the patron."

Frisk jumped up from her seat, "A-Anything else? Please, there must be some other news!"

Chara gently pulled Frisk back into her seat and began slowly rubbing her back in circles to comfort her, "It'll be fine, Frisk."

Undyne nodded, "Yes, there's more news…" Undyne frowned for a moment before clicking another button, changing the display to show security footage. "This security footage was taken this early morning." She said, before playing it.

The footage showed Alex coming out of an elevator, before going over to a small buffet-like area and grabbing some breakfast items from the area, before sitting down at a table to eat. Shortly thereafter, he got up and speed walked out of the building.

"This footage was shot in the MTT Hotel in town." She informed them, "Normally, this wouldn't have gotten our attention since nothing happened on tape and he had no reason to suspect he went there. That is, until we got a Police Report this morning."

Undyne clicked another button and the footage changed to another photo. It showed the inside of one of the hotel rooms, but the entire bed was in pieces. There were shreddings of cloth on the floor, slashes across the mattress that went deep into it, and the wooden bed-frame was in shambles. It was almost as if someone took a sword and slashed apart the bed.

Several people gasped, "A housekeeper went in to the clean the room for use today, but immediately called the authorities when she saw the state of the room… It was… the same room rented by Alex last night."

Frisk put her hands over her mouth as she surveyed the damage in the photo, "A-Alex… what happened to you?" She muttered quietly as she remembered the time Alex informed her of the time he damaged his room in his sleep.

Undyne remained silent for a moment, before continuing, "Eyewitness reports claim that he left the hotel in a hurry after eating the complimentary breakfast. He could be anywhere in town by now. Other people at the scene reported that this 'Alex' had been asking, once again, if Sans had any shows there that evening. He even seemed to show some knowledge about the Underground, but no one said anything about it."

"Okay, so Alex freaked out at Grillbys, went to Mettaton's hotel, trashed it, and ran off, all while looking for Sans?" Lynsie asked, summarizing everything.

Undyne nodded, "You got it punk, that's the just of it!" She flashed her toothy smile at Lynsie for a moment, before picking up the holographic projector, turned it off, and handed it Alphys, "Thanks for the projector Alphys."

"N-no problem." She said, smiling a little nervously.

"the kiddo was looking for me? why? i'm just a bag of bones?" Sans asked beside Lynsie.

His brother replied, "PERHAPS HE WAS SEEKING YOU OUT AS A FRIEND. OTHER-SANS WERE YOU CLOSE TO THIS ALEX?"

He nodded, _"yeah, we were kinda close, but i don't think that's the reason why."_

 ** _"IF I MAY OFFER MY THEORY."_** Gaster interrupted, stepping forward.

"Sure, egghead, what're you thinking?" Undyne said, smiling still.

 ** _"SANS IS ONE OF THE MOST BRILLIANT MONSTERS IN THE WORLD."_** He paused and looked directly at the other Sans next to the princess, **_"YOU KNOW ABOUT RESETS AND TIMELINES, AND HE KNOWS YOUR SUPER SECRET PASSWORDS. IN ALL LIKELIHOOD, HE PROBABLY CONCLUDED THAT IF HE COULD MEET UP WITH YOU AND SHOW THAT HE MEANS NO HARM, THEN MAYBE YOU'D BE ABLE TO HELP HIM OUT… OR AT LEAST HIDE HIM FOR THE TIME BEING."_**

Sans nodded, "makes sense. if anyone spouted those phrases, i'd at least listen to them and consider helping."

"WOWIE, ALEX THINKS THAT HIGHLY OF YOU BROTHER? THAT'S AMAZING! ALTHOUGH, WHY WOULDN'T HE SEARCH ME OUT INSTEAD? I'D DO EVERYTHING I COULD TO HELP SOMEONE IN NEED!"

Lynsie smiled warmly at Papyrus and hugged him gently, nuzzling a bit into him, "Don't worry about it pap. He probably just thought that Sans would be easier to track down."

"yeah, paps, nothing against you." Sans said, smiling brightly at his brother and their gf.

Chara fake-dryheeved, "Oh barf, stop being so lovey-dovey already sis. You can bone your boys later."

Lynsie immediately erupted with a red blush, while all Sanses and Papyruses present blushed heavy blue and orange. Both Gaster turned away and stopped themselves from blushing as well, for different reasons, of course. She sent a glare at her older sibling, which he noticed. Boy, was she going to get payback later for this!

"ANYWAY!" Undyne quickly said to clear the air, "What's our plan of attack? He could be anywhere by now!"

"welp, let's follow your lead then." Sans said, his blush now faded.

"What lead? There's officers monitoring Grillby's and the hotel in case the kid returns, but he seems far too smart to do that. I mean, he DID make sure to leave early in the morning so he wouldn't get caught after destroying the room."

Lynsie cleared her throat, "Yes, but if he WAS looking for Sans, maybe he still is? We should check locations that he might search for Sans. You know, get inside his head."

"OF COURSE. GRILLBY'S AND METTATON'S RESORT. THOSE ARE SANS' TWO MAIN HANG-OUT PLACES BACK IN THE UNDERGROUND." Papyrus said, his orange blush now fading.

"BUT WHAT ABOUT SANS' NEW HANG OUT PLACES?" The alternate Papyrus asked, "LIKE MUFFET'S BAKERY, THE SCHOOL, OUR HOUSE, AND THE LAB? THOSE ARE ALL PLACES SANS SPENDS TIME BACK HOME. WE SHOULD CHECK THERE!"

"GREAT IDEA NOT-ME."

"WELL, WE ARE THE GREAT PAPYRUS."

"Ugh." Chara groaned, "I'll take the car and search around town. Hell, I'll stay out all day if it means I can stop listening to all this."

"Why don't you take someone with you?" The Queen recommended, "Two pairs of eyes are always better than one."

Chara shrugged, "Alright, I guess. I'll take Azzy then."

Asriel shook his head and crossed his arms. "I think there should be someone from Alex's timeline with you instead. Someone that Alex would trust if he saw them. Otherwise, he might just take off again."

"Excellent idea bro." Lynsie said, smiling.

Frisk stood up, "I'll go with you. If Alex saw me, he'd trust me a hundred percent."

Chara sighed, "Alright Frisk. You and me."

Frisk's sister glared at her alternate, "Don't even think about hurting Frisk." She warned.

"Like you can threaten me." He said with a shrug. "Who's everyone else partnering with.

 ** _"MYSELF, ALPHYS, THE OTHER GASTER, AND MY SON, SANS, WILL REMAIN BEHIND TO WORK ON THE QMA. IF EVERYTHING WORKS OUT PERFECTLY, WE COULD HAVE EVERYTHING FIXED AND EVERYONE HOME BY TOMORROW."_** Doctor Gaster informed them.

 _"so, how about petal boy takes princess chara?"_

Asriel narrowed his eyes at Sans. "Sure, I'll go with Azzy." The other Chara said, earning a glare from the Prince.

"Same goes for you, demon girl. You touch Azzy, I'll make sure you never see the surface again." Prince Chara threatened back.

"Pffffft, I've heard better threats from power-hungry Gaster as a child." She shot back, before walking over to Prince Asriel.

"I'll keep an eye on her, Chara." Asriel said with a light smile, reassuring his brother and best friend.

Queen Toriel spoke next, "Chara and Frisk, you two should check out Muffet's Bakery and the surrounding area. Talk to Muffet. I'm sure her spiders would've seen something if Alex showed up anywhere." Both nodded in agreement.

King Asgore continued where his wife left off, "Asriel and other-Chara, you two should go check out the Mall. If Alex searched the MTT Hotel for Sans, he might go search the Mall next." Both of them nodded in agreement as well.

"WHAT ABOUT ME, YOUR MAJESTY?" The alternate Papyrus asked.

Queen Toriel chuckled and smiled warmly at the eager skeleton, "You mentioned school, yes? You can accompany me to the schools around town, Papyrus. It's been a while since I've done so, so it's a good enough excuse to look for your friend."

"EXCELLENT IDEA LADY ASGORE! ALEX WILL BE SO SURPRISED TO SEE US!" He said, bouncing a bit in place.

Lynsie looked at her parents, "What about me, Sans, and Paps?"

 ** _"IF I MAY GIVE A SUGGESTION…"_** Gaster said, before quickly earning a nod of approval, **_"ALL TIMELINES HAVE ONE LARGE LOCATION IN COMMON: MT. EBBOT. PERHAPS YOU COULD SEARCH THE BASE OF THE MOUNTAIN. HE MAY BE TOO INTIMIDATED AND AFRAID TO GO UP TO THE CASTLE, BUT HE MAY SEARCH THE MOUNTAIN FOR SANS AND ANYONE ELSE."_**

"pretty great idea other g. sounds tibia good to me."

"I AGREE. NOTHING'S BETTER THAN HOME!"

Lynsie smiled, "Alright, sounds like a good plan. If Alex saw Sans, he'd definitely come up to us."

"Alright, sounds like we have a plan of attack now." King Asgore said, gaining everyone's attention. "Right now, it is just after noon. We have several hours until the sun sets. If anyone learns anything for finds Alex, give myself or my wife a call. We'll plan to meet back at the castle at sunset. Sound good?"

"Yes sir."

"Yeah."

"CAN DO!"

 _"perfect."_

 ** _"WE'LL KEEP YOU UPDATED."_**

"✡ 💧📪 ✡ 🕆 💣✌ 💧❄✡📬" (YES, YOUR MAJESTY)

And with that, they all set out on their way. The scientists went back to the lab, the search parties went out on their individual searches, and Undyne went to the department to update them, before heading toward the lab to keep an eye out there. If Alex showed up anywhere, someone would be able to find him.

* * *

Back in Gaster's lab, the four scientists were hard at work on two different projects.

In the secondary, slightly small laboratory, both Gasters worked on building a QMA device. This secondary lab was adjacent to the main lab, but was further into the building and more protected. Plus, this was closer to the emergency generators that could be used to help power the device.

Currently, the QMA was still in its early stages of completion. The frame was mostly completed now, although it lacked the colorful and aesthetically pleasing design the alternate Gaster's had. The lab's computer system was in the beginning stages of being integrated with the machine.

However, progress had slowed momentarily as the two Gasters argued over the fundamental and theoretical workings of the multiverse and instantaneous space-time travel on a macroscopic level. Although the alternate Gaster SHOULD have been winning the argument with the knowledge he'd gained from his prior research, this wasn't the case. After all, he still had much to learn still, and this Gaster had much more… expertise with the theoretical side of things.

As the two of them continued to argue, Sans and Alphys were working in the main laboratory with the FUN Value problem. The lab's newest window, thanks to a Gaster Blaster, was now patched up with some plastic to allow the AC to continue running on this hot Summer day.

They both sat at the main computer, searching for the origin of the fluctuating FUN values. While they DID mention that Lynsie and her Anomaly State COULD fix the issue with Alex's data, they had left out one small issue with the matter. They had absolutely NO idea on how, exactly, she could do so.

And so, this leaves them searching for the origin of the problem. If they could pinpoint the exact source of the fluctuating FUN values, then they'd know where and how Lynsie could fix this. However, leads and clues weren't easy to come by.

Sans pointed to a few data points on the monitor, _"hmm, it looks like they could be suggesting…"_ Then, the data points changed again, just like the FUN values do every few seconds, " _nah, nevermind. forget what i was sayin'."_

Alphys squinted at the data and examined it before shaking her head, "M-maybe we're making th-the wrong assumption." She suggested, "W-we're assuming th-that the error o-originated a singular p-point." She helpfully pointed out.

Sans sighed and nodded, _"great. a problem with multiple right answers. god i hated those kinds of questions back in school."_

Alphys chuckled, "Yeah, b-but that's everyday l-life here in the l-lab." She said, making Sans chuckle and nod in agreement.

 _"hehe, yeah. tibia honest, it's like that at home too."_

Alphys nodded, examining the FUN Value once more. The monitor currently read:

'FUN VALUE: 825'

She frowned, "Th-this is not l-looking good, Sans." She said, pointing at the FUN Value, "Th-that's the highest r-recorded value yet."

Sans frowned and nodded, _"no, it's not…"_

Suddenly, the pair was interrupted by an all-to-familiar battle-cry.

"NGAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" They heard behind them.

Before either of them could react, Sans was thrown from his seat and to the ground, as Alphys was picked up and held by the collar of her lab coat. Holding her was an armor-clad humanoid in white armor with two red hearts and a single yellow one. She held Alphys in her right hand and a magical cyan spear in her left.

"Alright nerd, where am I and where are my friends?!" The figure asked angrily, moving her spear slightly closer to Alphys' face in a threatening way.

"I-I d-don't know wh-what you're t-t-talking a-about." Alphys tried to say, starting to freak out.

Sans stood up and rubbed his skull gently, _"undyne?"_ He asked as he groaned.

Suddenly, the tip of her spear was nanometers from Sans' vertebrate. "I so much as see you think about summoning a blaster and I'll kick your ass." She threatened.

Sans could've tried to summon them anyway, or teleport away for that matter, but either of those two options would serve only to piss Undyne off even more. Sans sighed and slowly nodded, _"undyne, you need to relax. what do you call a fish without an eye?"_ He asked, receiving no response, he replied, " _a fsh"_ He said, making the armor-clad Monster groan.

"S-Sans, a l-l-little h-help." Alphys pleaded.

The armored Monster snarled, "I'm only going to ask once more before I start attacking. Where the hell am I, and where the fuck are my friends?" She asked, losing her patience.

 _"whoa, whoa fish lips, i'm right here."_ Sans said, trying to convince her, _"listen. that white armor, that was a gift from alphys, right?"_ He asked, receiving a small nod in response, _"how else would i know that?"_

Undyne growled and tightened her grip on her spear, "Anyone who knows me would guess Alphys, so that means nothing. If you're really my Sans, then tell me something only he would know."

Sans thought for a moment before responding, _"how about that time alex led you around and danced in waterfall with ya?"_ He asked, _"remember? you didn't want anyone to know that you did it, and that you enjoyed it."_

"W-wait, U-Undyne, you c-c-can dance?" Alphys asked, blushing slightly, just as Undyne was likely doing underneath her helmet.

Undyne lowered her spear and made it disappear, "Sans, mind telling me what the hell is going on here? We all thought you were dead or worse. Core made it sound like ya'll were doomed or something."

Sans' sockets darkened upon mention of Core Frisk, _"really? that kid showed up to tell you that we're dead or worse, yet didn't help either of us out?"_

Undyne shrugged, taking off her helmet, revealing her face and her new, white eye-patch. " _kinda. they did mention that they did something to discourage travel to this timeline though."_

Sans' fists clenched, _"so they're the reason behind this mess? oh, when i get my hands on them…"_

"U-uh… if th-there's n-no more f-fighting… can y-you put me down n-now, Undyne?" Alphys asked politely, looking up at her.

Undyne blushed a bit and put her down, nodding, "S-sorry about that Alphys. I've had one-too-many experiences with evil versions of us…"

"Th-that's ok. I-I'd be suspicious t-too if I went t-to another t-timeline…"

 _"wait… undyne?"_ Sans asked.

"Yeah?"

 _"if our qma was destroyed and sent us here… how'd you end up here?"_

Undyne smiled, "Pfffft, that's easy." She said with a wide grin, wrapping an arm around Alphys, "This smart woman worked with Jordan to repair the prototype, then connected to this timeline and sent me along."

Sans' eye-sockets darkened as alarms began to blare throughout the laboratory, confirming his fears. Both Gasters immediately rushed into the main lab after hearing the alarm as they worked to silence it, which they succeeded in doing after a moment.

 ** _"UNDYNE?"_** Her Gaster asked after the alarms were turned off.

"✌ ❄ 💣 ✡ 🕆 ❄✋💣 ✋ ✍" (ANOTHER FROM YOUR TIMELINE?)

"'Sup doc!"

Sans rushed over to the source of the alarms… the FUN Value monitor. It now read:

'ERROR FUN VALUE FLUCTUATIONS HAVE INCREASED BY 150% PERCENT.'

'FUN VALUE: 972'

If bones could pale, they did so on the three skeleton's skulls, while Alphys' scales whitened.

"What's the matter?" Undyne asked, unsure what to make of the data on the screen.

Sans answered, _"the problem i mentioned… it just got worse."_

"✡ 🕆 🕆💧❄ ❄ ✌✞ 👎 ❄ 🕆 ❄ ❄✋💣 ✋ 👌✌ ✋ ✌ 👎 🕆 ❄ 👎✌💣✌ 👎 ✋❄📬" (YOU JUST TRAVELED THROUGH THE TIMELINE BARRIER AND FURTHER DAMAGED IT, SPEEDING UP THE DECAY.)

"Um, English please?" She asked, still sort of confused.

Her Gaster sighed, **_"EVERY TIME AN INTER-TIMELINE CONNECTION IS ESTABLISHED BETWEEN ANYWHERE ELSE AND HERE, THE FUN VALUES FLUCTUATE AT HIGHER AND HIGHER FREQUENCIES. OUR FIRST CONNECTION STARTED THE ISSUE, AND THE NEWEST ONE MADE THE PROBLEM WORSE. ANYTHING MORE AND THE SITUATION MIGHT BECOME ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO FIX BEFORE THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE 'FORCES' ITSELF TO CORRECTION."_**

"Which is?"

Alphys turned to her, "Th-that m-means that it m-might force b-both timelines t-t-to fuse t-together… c-catastrophically."

Undyne's single good eye widened as a new realization dawned on her. "Well… I've got bad news then…" She said as all pairs of eye sockets and eyes focused on her, "They may be planning on connecting again in twenty-four hours."

* * *

 _ **Author's Note:**_

 _ **So, I wrote this quickly enough and so I was able to start the new year off right. Happy New Year and welcome to 2018, ya'll. Have a good rest of the year and I hope last year wasn't too terrible for you.**_

 _ **Now, it seems like there's more than just FUN Values to worry about. They're more like the fever you get when you're sick with a disease. They may be changing rapidly, but they're just a symptom of the disease. If the core of the problem isn't fixed soon, the two timelines will fuse into one, or one will destroy the other... and honestly, I'm not liking PureTale's chances if the former occurs...  
**_

 _ **Anyway, that's all for now. Thanks for reading!**_


	10. Heart to Heart

**Remember: Spoilers for Undertale, my story, and R.I.P Lynn's are contained within this story. **

**If you'd rather not be spoiled in any of those three ways, please stop now and go read the other stories or play the game. (It's worth it!)**

 **If you need another reminder/overview of either of our stories, please go back to chapter one or two to check them out.**

 **Thanks again to R.I.P. Lynn for making this possible.**

 **Now, time to check on everyone!**

* * *

 **Chapter Ten:** Heart to Heart

Chara and Frisk sat in silence in the car as they remained parked outside of Muffet's Bakery. So far… nothing…

They had already talked with Muffet, the patrons of her bakery, and even some of her fellow spiders… Well, it was more like Frisk talked with the other spiders. Chara, on the other hand, stayed away from them and let Frisk do all the talking. He didn't seem to have arachnophobia, but he also didn't seem very eager to talk to the thousands of tiny spiders. Monster or not, he'd really rather not.

After doing that, they called in their lack of news and returned to the car. Of course, they didn't JUST stay there for the rest of the time. After that, they drove around the block to search for any sign of Alex, before then walking around the block after parking and asking individuals if they'd seen any sign of Alex.

Unfortunately, nothing of use came upon them, so here they were… sitting back in Chara's vehicle, killing time as they surveyed the scene. Just because Alex hadn't shown up yet didn't mean he wouldn't.

They sat in silence, until Frisk broke it.

"Why do you hate Chara?"

"Why do I hate what?" He asked, not making eye contact as he relaxed in his seat, both hands behind his head as he reclined.

She shook her head, "Why do you hate my sister Chara, Chara?" Frisk specified as she stared at the prince beside her.

He sighed and shook his head too, "I don't HATE anyone. Well, actually… I take that back, I hate anyone who willingly and knowingly hurts my family." He corrected himself.

"What about my sister then?" She pushed, "You two spewed hate and anger at one another. If Asriel and I weren't there…" She sighed, "I just want to know… is it because… you hate yourself?" She asked, making Chara freeze up. Seems like she was getting somewhere.

"Why… why would you think that?" Chara replied, still not making eye contact.

"I might not know the full story about this timeline… but I assume you've… umm, done a genocide." She said, whispering that final part.

He sighed and shook his head, "A genocide? No, try hundreds." He said bitterly.

Frisk, hesitantly, put a soft hand on his shoulder, "And do you blame me… or yourself?"

Chara tensed up once more, not saying a word in response as the sun grew closer to the horizon.

"You know what I think?" Frisk asked quietly. Her question was met with silence, so she continued, "I think you blame yourself. You died, and didn't have a full Soul, or body of your own… so you thought you were nothing but a demon. After all, you ran away to the mountain, right? You convinced Asriel to go through the plan and got him killed and turned into Flowey? You blame yourself for everything, because it is your fault, after all… right?"

He refused to make eye contact as she continued, "So, you figured that since it was your fault, that you might as well fully embrace it. Become the demon you thought you were… because, that's all you really were, right?"

Chara lowered his head in shame as he stared at his lap. Frisk squeezed his shoulder to show she was still there. "And then, I came along… and I killed everyone you cared and loved…" She said, sadness filling her voice, "That's… that's the kind of story I've heard from other worlds. Where… we've both made many, many horrible mistakes…"

Chara looked up and made eye contact with Frisk for the first time since they got back in the car. His eyes were filled with pain and conflict as old wounds reopened, "And then, stuff happened with Lynsie, and I don't know all the details, but… seeing Chara, my Chara, I mean… it reminded you of how you were back then. A little kid who was everything you currently despise. You… you feared that my Chara would be just like how you were without a Soul… a demon who comes when you call their name…" She said before her frown grew, "A demon who wouldn't hesitate to hurt your family..."

Prince Chara slowly nodded, admitting how he felt, "And, it certainly didn't help that I'm here too, right. Your Frisk… it seems you've forgiven her, or at least moved on… But you also feared that I'd be a bad influence, just as she was to you when you were dead." She pasued for a moment, "And, you feared we were here to do more damage... though the idea isn't unwarranted. After all, Chara did attack you back in the Mall." She admitted. "So… I want you to know I don't hold any of your hostility against you."

He smiled lightly and nodded, "I… I apologize Frisk. You're right… I've since moved on. Like Azzy, I realize my time dead made me do things I would never do otherwise… but it's still no excuse. The way your Chara is… so laid-back and quick to move, it reminded me of myself… back when I was someone I'd rather forget about."

"Chara." Frisk said, looking deep into his eyes, "You can't blame yourself for anything that may have happened in the past." She looked away, "You know how you mentioned Chara's LOVE?"

Chara nodded, looking away as he feared what he was about to be told. Frisk continued, "We never did a genocide, but she told me about her life before the Underground. She… she killed her father in self-defense… or, rather, she would have died had she not acted. She regrets going so far to this day, but… you should know how hard it is to get rid of LOVE."

Chara sighed, "Yes… nothing short of time travel can wipe the blood or dust from your hands." He admitted, "I shouldn't have been so harsh on her. After all, I'd hate anyone who was that harsh on me."

Frisk reached out and put her arms around Chara, pulling him into a hug. He chuckled a bit and wrapped his hands around Frisk. "Now, this doesn't mean we're friends now, Frisk..." He said, earning a playful pout from the alternate Frisk. This got another chuckled out of him, "But... Thanks Frisk. You know… you're a good kid, and pretty decent for a Human."

She pulled back after a moment and giggled, "Well, I had a good friend in my head to help me out when I needed it, so… thank you too."

They sat together in silence for a few moments longer, before Chara put the gear into drive. "Alright, I think it's time we go back and meet up with mom and dad."

Frisk nodded as the car pulled forward, heading back toward the castle.

* * *

Toriel and Papyrus exited the final school on their list to check. So far, no sign of Alex anywhere.

Perhaps he simply didn't want to try the schools in case the alternate Frisk was there? It's possible. From everything Toriel had been told by Papyrus, who left out no juicy details, Alex really cared about Frisk. So, logically, it would make sense that he wouldn't want to drag ANY version of Frisk into his problems. Honestly, it was kind of sweet.

Checking out all of the schools had taken all day, especially since every child wanted to see the famous Queen Toriel Dreemurr. And, although Papyrus wasn't a Royal Guardsman back home, he had quite a knack for it. He made sure every child had their turn, while also making sure nothing bad happened between any of the students.

Plus, it warmed Toriel's heart a bit every time she saw Papyrus' eye sockets brighten upon being called 'The Great Royal Guardsman Papyrus' by the students. She couldn't help but laugh a bit every time he heard it.

They both returned to her vehicle as Papyrus finished his most recent tale of the 'lovers'.

"…AND AS WE WENT UP ON THE FERRIS WHEEL, FRISK AND ALEX SCOOTED CLOSER TOGETHER. THE SUNSET MADE THE MOMENT EVEN MORE PRECIOUS. FRISK RESTED HER HEAD AGAINST ALEX'S SHOULDER WHEN THEY REACHED THE TOP, BEFORE THEY TRIED TO KISS."

Toriel giggled. Ahh, young love. It reminded her a little bit of Lynsie when she lived with her in the Ruins. The love she had for those two skeletons, ahh it was precious. Sure, she played the part of the over-protective mother… ok, maybe 'playing the part' isn't accurate, but still, it was kind of adorable.

"What do you mean by 'tried', Papyrus?"

"OH, YES. THEN, MY SISTER, EVER THE PRANKSTER, BONKED THE TWO OF THEM ON THE HEAD WITH A BONE, RUINING THE MOMENT." He sighed, "HONESTLY, I THINK MY BROTHER'S A BAD INFLUENCE ON HER SOMETIMES. SHE'S EVEN LESS RESISTANT TO NAPS NOW. THE HORROR!"

She laughed, "Papyrus, sometimes you need to take naps to get back your energy."

Papyrus shook his head, "NONSENSE, I DON'T TAKE THOSE BLASTED NAPS, AND LOOK AT ME! I'M THE TEXTBOOK DEFINITION OF ENERGY!"

She nodded with a laugh, "I can't disagree with you there. The Papyrus I know, he's full of energy too, and VERY against naps and laziness."

"THAT'S BECAUSE HE GETS IT. IT MAKES SENSE THAT SOMEONE AS AWESOME AND COOL AS HIM WOULD UNDERSTAND THE USELESSNESS OF NAPPING AND LAZINESS! NYEH HEH HEH!"

"I guess that's true."

"LADY ASGORE, ERR, YOUR MAJESTY."

"Please, Toriel is fine, my friend."

"OK TORIEL, I WAS WONDERING… HOW'S MY BROTHER? I MEAN, THE ONE YOU KNOW. I KNOW HE'S NOT 'MY' BROTHER, BUT… I WORRY ABOUT HIM ALL THE SAME, YOU KNOW?"

She smiled gently and nodded as they climbed into the vehicle, "Of course, I understand. If I ended up somewhere else with another Asgore, I'd worry about him too." She admitted, before pausing for a moment. "He's doing well. Ever the jokester, but his smile seems to be wider and more genuine when he's around my little Lynsie." She said, a gleam of pride in her eyes as she spoke.

"AH YES, LYNSIE." Papyrus replied, narrowing his sockets for a moment before relaxing them, "SHE SEEMS RATHER NICE. DOES SHE LOVE BOTH OTHER-ME AND OTHER SANS?"

She smiled warmly and nodded, "Why, yes… yes she does. So very much. The three of them love one another so much."

Papyrus smiled, "THAT'S GOOD. I'M HAPPY FOR THEM." He said, pausing for a moment, "WHAT ABOUT YOU, LADY A- TORIEL? HOW'RE YOU AND ASGORE?"

She paused for a moment in thought, looking at Papyrus, "Why do you ask? Are we… are we not together in your world?"

Papyrus shook his head quickly, "NO, YOU TWO ARE TOGETHER AND HAPPY BACK IN MY LINE OF TIME TOO. IT'S JUST… SANS HAS TOLD ME ABOUT OTHER LINES, WHERE YOU TWO NEVER GOT BACK TOGETHER…"

She smiled gently, "Yes, Papyrus, we're both happy. My whole family is in one piece and we're together again. Back in the Underground, all of us made huge mistakes down there that broke the family apart, including myself…" She frowned, before smiling, "But Lynsie… she fixed everything. What a wonderful woman she's become."

"YES, LYNSIE SEEMS PRETTY COOL. SHE'S PROBABLY THE SECOND COOLEST PERSON IN THIS LINE, MAYBE EVEN TIED FOR FIRST! NYEH HEH HEH."

"Well, I'll tell you something Papyrus." She began with a fond smile, "She'd probably argue that she's nowhere near the top of the list… but if you ask anyone else, they'd put her at the top. Even Papyrus, too, would do it."

"WOWIE, SO IT REALLY IS TRUE LOVE!" He said with a gleam in his sockets, "I PROMISE YOU MISS TORIEL, I'LL DO EVERYTHING IN MY POWER TO MAKE SURE THIS LINE IS ALL FIXED BEFORE I LEAVE. YOU HAVE MY WORD!"

She smiled gently and put a paw on his shoulder, "Thank you, Papyrus." She then reached into her pocket and grabbed her phone, "Now, why don't we see if anyone else found anything?"

* * *

Asriel and Chara took a break after their fourth walk around the mall. The sun was preparing to set soon, and they had still found no sign of Alex. They checked several shops, including the Tem Shop, but still no real news. Although, Temmie DID sell them a pack of Tem Flakes for a much lower price than normal. Plus, to make things a million times better, the Tem Flakes was ACTUAL food now, and not just pieces of construction paper or glitter.

Actually… it was pretty good. Chara took another handful and threw it into her mouth, before offering a some to Asriel. Her Asriel or not, she was still going to share with him. After all, he's her best friend.

Asriel smiled and shook his head, "No thanks, I'm not a huge fan of Tem Flakes."

"But dude, they're actually edible. It's not the paper trash she used to sell." She tried to convince him, but he wasn't having any of it. "C'mon Asriel. Please."

"No Chara."

"Please!" She asked once more.

He sighed and wiped his paw down the side of his face, "No, Chara."

"Pppppllleeeeaaassssseeee. Aaaazzzzzzzzzzzzzyyy, c'moooonn! I thought you were my best friend forever." Chara said, begging him to try some and throwing in a bit of a guilt trip. Just like she hoped, he couldn't resist her and gave in.

"Alright, alright. I'll try some…" Chara beamed, "…but just one try." Chara nodded in agreement.

Asriel reached into the plastic bag and pulled out a few flakes. He frowned at them, but gave in soon enough and popped them into his mouth. They melted on his tongue and filled his taste buds with pleasure.

"Oh… oh my~…" Asriel said, reaching for another, larger handful of the flakes. Chara, however wasn't having any of it. She smacked his paw away and pulled the bag to her chest, making the grown goat monster pout.

She couldn't help but laugh at his face, "What happened to just one taste, Azzy~?" She teased.

He frowned, "But Cccchhaaaarrraaaaa~" He whined back to her, "I thought you were my best friend forever too!" He shot back at her, guilt tripping her just as she did to him.

She relented, "Fine, you can have the rest." Chara handed over the bag, which was soon emptied by Asriel.

"Ohh man, that was good!" He said, smiling as the magical flakes melted and absorbed into him.

"Told you so. That's why you never doubt me, Azzy." She said with a playful smirk. For a moment, she had forgotten that this wasn't HER Asriel. And the same could be said for Asriel, who had forgotten that she wasn't his brother.

Soon enough, they both quieted down on the bench in the mall, just looking around in silence. After a moment, Chara spoke, "I'm sorry."

"Huh?" Asriel said, turning to look at the child beside him, "About what?"

"For getting so angry at your brother. We both know how much we mean to each other…" She said quietly, "I shouldn't have been so harsh."

Asriel sighed, "It's alright. I'm sure your brother, just like me, had done plenty of awful things with our powers."

Chara nodded, "It's just… I'm jealous…"

"Jealous? Really? About what?"

"I know other-me had been through a lot… but he's clean of LOVE. And you, and my Azzy, and Frisk, and Alex… You're all clean… but not me." Chara held her hands in front of her and looked down at her palms, "I've still got that damn blood on my hands."

Asriel reached around Chara's back and pulled her closer and into a hug, "It's alright Chara. And even though we may be clean of LOVE, the memory of it will always be with us. The important part is that you regret your actions, which you clearly do." He said gently, "The Chara I know, they'd only want to get violent to protect those important to them… you're just like my Chara."

Chara let out a few tears as she clung to Asriels' soft fur and buried her head in his chest, which he allowed. Asriel rubbed her back gently as she cried for a few moments, before she finally calmed down and stopped. Asriel let her go and saw her red eyes.

She sat up straight and laughed, not making eye contact, "Hahaha, guess I'm the real crybaby, eh, Asriel?"

"Well, as I'm sure you've told me before… it's alright to cry. Sometimes… you have to."

She nodded and smiled, looking up at Asriel and she wiped her eyes, "Thanks Asriel… You're… you really are my best friend, no matter what." She said, before hugging Asriel's side once more for a few moments longer.

They sat there in silence for a moment before Chara spoke again, "How's Lynsie? She seems nice, but I haven't seen much of her." She asked as they watched various people walk by, kindly enough giving the two of them some space.

"My sister? She's the greatest." He stated as if it were scientific fact, smiling, "I remember so many times, when I was still a soulless flower… She wanted to be with me. And… And I hurt her Chara." He admitted, frowning for a moment, "I did terrible, horrible things to her… and yet, even then, she forgave and loved me. Me! As a soulless freak, I couldn't understand it, but now… now I understand."

"She... Lynsie seems pretty nice. Reminds me a bit of Frisk." She looked up at Asriel, "She might not be like your Frisk, but my sister… She won't stop trying until she makes everyone happy. She's determined to make everyone happy. She… she made me brave enough to find love." Chara told him before she paused for a moment and a genuine, gentle smile formed on her face, "We both have pretty great sisters, don't we?"

Asriel laughed, "Haha, yeah, I guess we do."

"But they're both total nerds, aren't they?" Chara joked.

"Yes, one hundred percent Chara. They're both the biggest nerds." He admitted with a smile.

"The nerdiest."

"But they're our nerds, and no one can hurt them on our watch." Asriel said, smiling fondly.

Chara nodded with a large, genuine smile as the sun began to touch the horizon, "Damn straight."

* * *

Lynsie walked with her two boneheads on either side as they sat down on a hillside at the base of Mt Ebbot. The soft grass cushioned the three of them as they admired the sunset.

So far, no sign of the other Anomaly, Alex. They'd talked with many people at the base of the mountain, and had kept watch, but no sign of him at all. With their searching time coming to an end, she decided to make a little moment out of it and watch the sunset with her two favorite monsters in the whole wide world… well, except for mama, papa, and Azzy.

"i'll never get tired of these." Sans said, sitting to Lynsie's right.

To her left sat Papyrus, "YEAH, THE WARMTH ON MY BONES, THE ORANGES AND PURPLES IN THE SKY. IT'S SO PRETTY."

"just like you, lynn."

Lynsie blushed at the compliment, "Thanks guys, but the sunset's a million times better together."

"YOU SAID IT LYNSIE! I ENJOY ALL THE TIME WE SPEND TOGETHER, EVEN WHEN I GUARD YOUR LIFE WITH MY, ERM, LIFE." Papyrus said, still wearing his Royal Guard armor. The brilliant colors of the sunset reflected off of his armor, making it appear even more stunning.

"so fluffybuns… how about when your brother made that comment." Sans commented.

Lynsie narrowed her eyes towards the distance before smirking, "What, you think I'll just let him get away with that? Let's just say that a certain 'secret stash' of chocolate isn't so secret anymore."

Sans chuckled, "diabolical, but the kiddo deserves it."

Lynsie laughed and nodded in agreement.

The three of them sat in silence together, watching the sun kiss the horizon, before disappearing behind it. When the sun was about halfway through its setting process, they were interrupted by the sounds of sirens.

They looked down at the main road and watched as an ambulance and firetruck sped by with their sirens and lights on. Flying above it at a much higher speed was an emergency helicopter, both of which were heading past them and towards the other side of Mt Ebott, where the main visitor centers and sanctuary was located.

"what's going on?" Sans wondered aloud.

"DID A HIKER GET INJURED OR SOMETHING?"

"I have no idea. I hope that whoever they are, they're ok." Lynsie said, worried for whoever might be injured. If a rescue helicopter was involved in this emergency, then it was probably not good.

Both skeletons nodded in agreement as the sun finished setting before them. "Guys… I wish we could spend more time like this, and less time doing important things." Lynsie admitted, "Don't get me wrong, what we do is important. It's just…"

"we know, Lynn. we know."

She smiled, "I know."

"HEY LYNSIE, WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE OTHERS FROM THE OTHER TIMELINE?"

"yeah lynn, you learn anything about them?" Sans asked, his curiosity peaked. "ever since they appeared, g's been spending most of his time at the lab with 'em."

She giggled and shook her head at the name, "I know about as much as you guys do from their story about their timeline." She said, before continuing, "But, I've seen some of the pain and issues they'd gone through in their world. They might not have had time loops, but they still had a hard time." She told them.

"you saw? what do you mean by that?"

"I think… I think the FUN values caused me to have a dream. Well, not a dream, more like a memory from their timeline."

"what kinda memory?" Sans asked.

"YES LYNSIE, WHAT'D YOU SEE?"

She frowned, "I saw their Sans… kill Alex." She admitted, making both skeletons freeze. She didn't want to finish the thought, but she wasn't going to hide anything from them, "And… he was being controlled by their Gaster."

"his own father… made him kill a kid?"

"THAT'S AWFUL!"

She nodded, "They both know about the dream I had. They both said they'd rather forget about that day. Neither of them are proud of that."

Sans wrapped an arm around Lynn and smiled, "well, i guess we lucked out then, 'cause we got you."

"EXACTLY. LYNSIE, WE'VE ALL HAD OUR ISSUES AND PROBLEMS, BUT IN THE END, IT SEEMS LIKE EVERYTHING WORKED OUT. I MEAN, WE FOUND LOVE, THE OTHER FRISK, ALEX, AND CHARA ALL FOUND LOVE. EVEN WITH OUR HARDSHIPS, GREAT THINGS CAME AROUND IN THE END."

"bro…" Sans said, before a large, genuine smile erupted on his face, "you're so cool bro, couldn't have put it better myself."

"Yeah sugarskull, that was beautiful." She turned to her left and leaned over, planting a gentle kiss on his cheekbone, making him erupt with an orange blush. She couldn't help the giggle that came about due to Papyrus' cuteness when he blushes.

They all returned to silence as they continued to enjoy the setting of the sun. It was a beautiful evening… but then it was ruined.

Literally, out of nowhere, dark, black clouds filled the sky and obscured the setting sun as distant thunder echoed.

"huh, where'd that come from?" Sans pondered as the cloud cover only got thicker and thicker, and lighting arced across the darkened sky.

"I THINK WE SHOULD GET GOING, BEFORE IT STARTS TO STORM."

Lynsie nodded in agreement, "Yeah, plus we've got to meet everyone else back in the throne room."

Sans reached out and took her hand gently, while also grabbing Papyrus', "well, lucky for us i know a shortcut."

Lynsie smiled down at Sans, "Well, then lead the way, royal guardsman."

The three of them then vanished from the mountainside, as the sky opened up and the first drops of rain fell.

* * *

Back in Gaster's lab, the scientists and Undyne all remained silent as they absorbed the information Undyne had just told them. The Alphys and Jordan in the other timeline were going to connect here again in twenty-four hours?! That's not good… not one bit…

 _"twenty-four hours… that doesn't give us much time…"_

Undyne's eye widened, "So it's like those anime we watch, right Alphys? Where the protagonist has only 24 hours until the world ends."

"W-Well… if th-they reconnect, it w-won't be the e-end of the world… it'll j-just make i-it come qu-quicker?!" She asked, looking for one of the skeletons to confirm what she said.

The foreign Gaster nodded, **_"YES, BUT STILL… WE MIGHT WANT TO TRY TO FIX THIS BEFORE ANY FURTHER CONNECTIONS OCCUR."_**

Sans rubbed the back of his skull, _"yeah, about that g… we still haven't found the origin yet…"_

Alphys nodded in agreement as she turned to the FUN Value monitor, looking at the data on it, which was changing at a much faster pace than usual. Suddenly, she gasped, an idea seemingly coming to her. She rushed over and looked at the changing variable and began to make several calculations in her head.

"🕈 ✌❄ ✋💧 ✋❄ ✌ 🏱 ✡💧✍ ✌✞ ✡ 🕆 👎✋💧👍 ✞ 👎 💧 💣 ❄ ✋ ✍" (WHAT IS IT ALPHYS? HAVE YOU DISCOVERED SOMETHING?)

Alphys nodded and turned back around, "Th-the source of the problem i-isn't in an-any specific part of th-the code of this world…" She said, before stepping to the side and showing off the data on screen, "It's b-between our two codes…" She concluded.

Sans' sockets widened in realization, _"alphys, you're a genius. if the problem's widespread throughout both codes…"_

Her Gaster nodded as he realized the implications, "📬📬📬✌ 👎 ✋ ❄✋💣 ✋ 👍 👍❄✋ 💧 ✡ 🕈 💧 ❄ 🏱 👌 💣📬📬📬" (...AND IF TIMELINE CONNECTIONS ONLY WORSEN THE PROBLEM...)

Gaster snapped his fingers as he came to the same conclusion, **_"…THEN THE ERROR POINT MUST BE SITUATED BETWEEN BOTH TIMELINES."_**

Alphys nodded and smiled, "E-exactly."

Undyne looked fairly lost, but tried to piece this together, "Ok, I'm lost now. How're we supposed to fix this if this 'error' isn't in our world or this one?"

Gaster stroked his chin in thought, "🕈 📪 ✋ ❄ 🏱 👌 💣 ✋💧 👌 ❄🕈 🕆 ❄🕈 ✌ ✋❄✋ 💧📪 ✌ 👎 ❄ 🏱 👌 💣 🕈💧 🕈✋❄ ✌👍 👍 👍❄✋ 📬📬📬 ✋👍✌ ✡📪 🕈 🕯👎 👎 ❄ 🏱 ✌ ❄ ✌❄ 🕈✌✡📬 👎 ✋ 💧 💣✋ ❄ 🕆 ❄ ❄ 🏱 👌 💣📪 👌🕆❄ ❄ ✌❄ 🕈 🕆 👎 ✋😐 ✡ 👌 ❄ ✡ 🕈✌✡ ❄ ✌✋ ✌👍👍 💧💧 ❄ ❄ ❄ ✋💧💧🕆 📬" (WELL, IF THE PROBLEM IS BETWEEN OUR TWO REALITIES, AND THE PROBLEM GROWS WITH EACH CONNECTION... LOGICALLY, WE'D NEED TO OPEN ANOTHER GATEWAY. DOING SO MIGHT FURTHER THE PROBLEM, BUT THAT WOULD LIKELY BE THE ONLY WAY TO GAIN ACCESS TO THE ROOT ISSUE.)

The other Gaster grunted in agreement, **_"YES. PERHAPS IF ANOTHER GATEWAY WAS OPENED AND MAINTAINED LONG ENOUGH, LYNSIE MIGHT BE ABLE TO GAIN ACCESS TO THE SPECIFIC PART OF THE CODE REQUIRED TO FIX THE ERROR."_**

"HELLO?!" Undyne yelled, gaining everyone's attention, "Mind filling me in here?"

Sans chuckled, _"well, ya see undyne… when we used the qma to connect to this world, it's kinda fused our timelines together. it's kinda like gravity gone wrong. our 'planet' had gotten too close to this one. soon, if we don't fix things, the two 'planets' might collide."_ Sans explained.

" ✠👍 ❄ ✌ ✌ ✡📪 💧✌ 💧" (EXCELLENT ANALOGY, SANS.)

 ** _"LYNSIE IS THE ANOMALY OF THIS WORLD, KIND OF LIKE HOW ALEX IS THE ANOMALY OF OURS. IT'LL TAKE HER SPECIAL POWERS AND ALEX'S DATA TO CORRECT THIS MISTAKE. AS SANS WOULD PUT IT: IT'D TAKE BOTH OF THEM TO FORCE THE TWO 'PLANETS' BACK INTO THEIR RESPECTIVE ORBITS AND OUT OF THEIR IMMINENT COLLISION."_** Gaster helped explain.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Undyne asked, "Let's kick this problem's ass and go home!"

"B-but Undyne…" Alphys started, "W-we don't h-have a working g-gateway yet, and w-we don't know where A-Alex is…"

Sans looked at his wrist, which didn't have a watch, _"i hate to cut things short, but speaking of alex… i think it's about time to meet everyone back at the castle."_

"Wait, we're next to a castle?"

Gaster smiled, "🕈 🕯 ✠🏱 ✌✋ ❄ 🕈 ✌✡📬📬📬" (WE'LL EXPLAIN ON THE WAY...)

 _"yeah 'cap, there's a lot about this timeline that's different from any other we've seen."_

And with that, they all vanished to meet everyone else at the Castle. The storm continued to rage outside as everyone began to reassemble at the Dreemurr's Castle.

* * *

 **[Thirty-some Minutes Prior…]**

It had been several hours, a bus ride, and a short tour later, before Alex was alone on the mountain. The sanctuary around Mt. Ebbot was really nice and well kept.

After leaving the hotel this morning, he walked for a bit, before deciding to take a bus ride. He spent a decent amount of time trying to find the right bus, but soon enough he found one that would take him to the base of Mt. Ebbot, next to a visitor center. He paid the bus driver and took the bus ride to the mountain, before finding a guided tour that would take them deep into the sanctuary, and to another visitor center on the far side of the mountain.

After the tour was over, he was at the other center, which was much closer to the hole into the Underground. From what he's learned so far, no tours go up the mountain anywhere near the hole. Perhaps the King and Queen had paid off the authorities to make sure no one would go near the entrance? Knowing the Queen, the hole was probably not sealed, but well out of reach of others. Now he just had to get there.

Alex looked up at the sky from his spot on the grass. He was only a few minutes from where the hole should be and the sun was about a half hour from touching the horizon. He'd certainly make it before it would even start getting dark. Knowing the end of his hike was coming up soon… it filled him with Pure Determination…

Or, at least… it should have.

Honestly, his Soul felt pretty crummy right now. He closed his eyes and summoned his Soul forward, gasping at the sight of it.

It was a dark, dull grey, with little-to-no tint of red in it. Guess he's not quite as Determined as he thought…

He chuckled sadly to himself as he put his Soul away and continued waling on the hiking trail that he found.

This trail seemed fairly unused, but occasionally walked upon. It seems that not many wanted to walk this steep trail on a hot, summer day like this. Oh well, more time to himself then.

Alex walked further down the path for a few minutes, before reaching the spot. Well, not really 'the spot', but it was where he'd have to stop. The hole was off of the main path, just a few steps to the right. Appropriately, there was a large wooden sign with a message burned into it in black.

'DANGER: DO NOT LEAVE THE OFFICIAL, MARKED TRAIL. SERIOUS BODILY INJURY COULD OCCUR.'

Ha, it's probably just there to make people NOT look for the Underground. Alex, of course, ignored the sign and stepped into the bushes. Little did he know, there was another hiker down the trail that just saw him ignore the sign and leave the trail.

Continuing as planned, Alex took a few steps before he found what he was looking for… except… it was different than he remembered. The hole was slightly more to the right and further forward, no longer within a cave that also didn't seem to exist. Maybe he was just misremembering where the exact hole was? That was probably it. After all, he's been under a lot of stress recently and it HAD been a few years since his previous fall.

Alex carefully leaned forward and looked into the hole. He could not see the bottom. That wasn't a bad thing though. The previous two times he fell, he couldn't see the bottom either.

But, then… Alex felt his knees shake and grow weak. Damn his fear of heights.

"It's fine, it's fine. It'll be fine Alex, you've fallen down it twice now. You'll just fall for a few seconds, and then land on a soft, cushioning bed of flowers. Nothing to worry about." He whispered to himself.

Slowly, but surely, he regained his confidence. He straightened up his posture and prepared to jump, but that's when…

Alex lost all of his confidence once more as he took half a step back. He frowned at himself in disappointment as he whispered to himself under his breath, "Dammit."

It seems that, with his fear of heights, he can't muster the courage to jump. He still had the doubts in the back of his mind that told him that this might not be the hole, or that he might hurt himself this time. Hell, if he could see a large inflatable to catch him at the bottom he'd still have a hard time jumping.

Shaking his head, he peered down the hole once more as he attempted to see the bottom. Something about the hole still didn't feel quite right…

"Hey, kid?! You alright?!" An unknown voice said behind him, spooking Alex as he tried to turn around to see who it was. As he did so, his foot slipped and he fell backwards, into the hole as he involuntarily screamed in a panic.

It didn't matter how confident he was, he was still terrified of heights.

"KID!" The man shouted as Alex fell into the darkness.

Alex thought calming thoughts quickly, trying to reassure himself. It'd just be, like, twenty seconds of falling before he landed nice and safe! He thought to himself, "It's fine, I'll be per-"

*THUD

*CRACK

He hit solid rock.

A lot sooner than expected.

He let out an involuntary scream of pain as darkness flooded his senses, and the man far above tried to shout reassuring things as he dialed 911.

* * *

 ** _Author's Note:_**

 ** _I always worry about the parts focusing on Lynsie... but I think I did decent..._**

 ** _Guess it didn't work out as well as Alex had hoped. The Underground doesn't exist in this timeline. Since no Monsters were trapped, the only holes on the Mountain are either from erosion or from small tunnels dug to examine and study the special minerals and crystals found under and within the Mountain… and Alex fell into one of the former._**

 ** _Things are starting to ramp up now. The two timelines are in peril, everyone had a little heart-to-heart with one another while looking for Alex, and Alex is in danger/trouble. Stay tuned to see how this plays out. Spoiler alert: It might not go too smoothly…_**


	11. Fearfully Passionate

**Remember: Spoilers for Undertale, my story, and R.I.P Lynn's are contained within this story. **

**If you'd rather not be spoiled in any of those three ways, please stop now and go read the other stories or play the game. (It's worth it!)**

 **If you need another reminder/overview of either of our stories, please go back to chapter one or two to check them out.**

 **Thanks again to R.I.P. Lynn for making this possible.**

 **Now, time to check on everyone!**

* * *

 **Chapter Eleven:** Fearfully Passionate.

Sans, Lynsie, and Papyrus all reappeared in the throne room to the rest of the group waiting for them. Well, most of the rest of them. The scientists had yet to show up, but they'd be there any minute now. The King and Queen, Prince Chara, Undyne, Asriel, and the foreign Papyrus, Frisk, and Chara were all waiting.

"waiting on both gs, alphys, and other me?" Sans asked.

Queen Toriel nodded as she took a seat, "That is correct. Hopefully they'd made some progress…"

Everyone took their seats as the final group of monsters returned. Both Gasters, Sans, and Alphys returned in the center of the group with a newcomer. Everyone stared at the new Undyne in the sleek, white armor.

"What the hell?" Prince Chara asked, staring at the new Undyne, "Who're you?"

"I'm Undyne, punk!" She stated the obvious, "And who might you be, mister edgy?"

"Undyne!" Frisk cried out, running over to her and doing her best to hug Undyne despite the armor.

Undyne flashed Frisk a toothy grin and noggied her, "Hey Frisky, nice to see you're doing fine!" Frisk nodded, but frowned a bit as she held her head in pain from the noggie.

"UNDYNE? HOW'D YOU GET HERE?" Papyrus asked in his battle body.

Undyne smiled, "Alphys and Jordan fixed up the old portal-thing and sent me through to see what's going on."

"what?" Sans said, his sockets darkening, "are you telling me that they connected here, again?" He turned toward Gaster, "is the problem worse now g?" He asked.

Gaster frowned and nodded, "❄ ✌❄ ✋💧 👍 👍❄📬 ❄ 👎 👍✌✡ ✌❄ ✌💧 💧👍✌ ✌❄ 👎📬" (THAT IS CORRECT. THE DECAY RATE HAS ESCALATED.)

Several gasps sounded off around the room as Prince Chara shouted in rage at the foreign Gaster, "This is all your fault, W D!" He said, pointing his finger at him, "We were all living a wonderful life here after everything we've gone through. We didn't ask for some sort of world-ending event! You and your stupid research has done nothing but put both of our timelines at risk!"

The alternate Gaster narrowed his eyes at Prince Chara, before sighing and lowering his skull in acceptance, **_"YOU ARE CORRECT, PRINCE CHARA…"_** He admitted, surprising him, **_"MY RESEARCH AND CURIOSITY HAS LED TO LITTLE MORE THAN SUFFERING FOR OTHERS…"_** Gaster turned his head a bit to Lynsie, **_"YOU WERE WONDERING WHAT HAPPENED TO MY SON'S SOUL? I DID IT. I BURNED AND CRACKED IT MANY, MANY YEARS AGO."_**

His son stepped forward to defend his father, _"yeah, but i knew the risks and volunteered, dad."_ He reassured him.

Their Gaster stepped forward in defense of his alternate, "✌ 👎 🕈 ✌❄ ✌👌 🕆❄ 💣 ✍ ✌👎 ✋ 👎 ✞ ❄ 👎 💣 ❄✋💣 ✌ 👎 ✡ ✋ ❄ 💣🕆 ❄✋✞ 💧 💧 ✌ 👍 📪 ✋ 🕈 🕆 👎🕯✞ 👎 ❄ ✠✌👍❄ 💧✌💣 ❄ ✋ ❄ ✌ ❄ ❄✋💣 ✋ 📬" (AND WHAT ABOUT ME? HAD I DEVOTED MORE TIME AND ENERGY INTO MULTIVERSE RESEARCH, I WOULD'VE DONE THE EXACT SAME THING TO ANOTHER TIMELINE.)

Gaster sighed and looked over to Lynsie as well, "✋📪 ❄ 📪 ✌✞ 👎 💣✌ ✡ ✈🕆 💧❄✋ ✌👌 ❄ ✋ 💧 ✋ ❄ ✌💣 💧👍✋ 👍 📬" (I, TOO, HAVE DONE MANY QUESTIONABLE THINGS IN THE NAME OF SCIENCE.) He admitted, thinking back to his experiments in the past, including his research with Lynsie and the Anomaly State.

The alternate Sans stepped forward once more, _"and it's too late to do anything about it now. now, we need to work on finding alex. undyne mentioned that there might be another connection this time tomorrow."_

"well, it doesn't sound like there were any leads." Sans pointed out, "we're not much closer to finding alex."

"THAT'S NOT TRUE." Alternate Papyrus pointed out, "WE'VE NARROWED DOWN THE POSSIBLE LOCATIONS ALEX COULD BE RIGHT NOW."

"Frisk, is there any other locations Alex might have gone to?" Queen Toriel asked, "You know him best, how he thinks…"

Frisk frowned and thought for a moment before she got an idea, "What about the Underground?" She asked, "If he was unfamiliar with the surface, he might look for something more recognizable to him. And, if he's looking for Sans, maybe he'd try your old house in Snowdin."

Sans shook his head, "sorry to disappoint, but my house in snowdin doesn't exist anymore."

"What, like it's torn down?" The younger Chara asked.

Lynsie shook her head, "When we mentioned that the timeline was changed… well, the Underground was never constructed in this timeline."

"What?!" Several foreign humans and Monsters asked.

King Asgore nodded, "In this version of events, the Human-Monster War never occurred. Therefore, no one was trapped underground and there was no need for any digging."

"Well, there are a few tunnels dug to find the unique crystal deposits in the mountain, but that's about it." Queen Toriel said, correcting her husband.

Asriel agreed, "So that makes the Underground an invalid option for Alex."

The foreign Sans' eye sockets went dark as he realized something, _"but alex doesn't know that…"_

"OH NO! SO, ALEX MIGHT BE ON THE MOUNTAIN, LOOKING FOR THE UNDERGROUND?" Papyrus asked, standing next to Lynsie still.

"it's definitely possible, but the mountain area is still pretty large."

"What about the ambulance and helicopter." Lynsie mentioned, "When Sans, Paps, and I were checking out the Mountain there was some sort of emergency. Could that be related to Alex? Maybe he hurt himself looking for the Underground."

 ** _"ANOTHER LIKELY OCCURANCE."_** Gaster said, breaking out of his self-loathing as he began thinking. **_"CAPTAIN UNDYNE?"_**

"Yeah, egghead?"

"Whatcha need?!"

Both Undynes asked, before turning to one-another in confusion and frowning, narrowing their eyes at one another.

Gaster shook his head, **_"NOT YOU, UNDYNE. THE CAPTAIN OF THIS TIMELINE, COULD YOU CHECK TO SEE WHO WAS INVOLVED WITH THE EMERGENCY? IT'S A LONG SHOT, BUT IT'S THE BEST LEAD WE HAVE."_**

She nodded, "I'll send the Ebbot General a call." She said, pulling out her phone and walking away to make the phone call.

As she walked away, they continued to discuss matters.

"Doctor Gaster, from the other world, I mean." King Asgore started, "You all know Alex, right? What can we expect upon finding them?" He asked.

Gaster began contemplating a response, before another person asked another question. Prince Chara spoke, "Should we expect trouble upon finding him?" He asked, motioning with his head toward Frisk and the other Chara.

Frisk glared at Prince Chara, "Hey! Alex is not a bad guy!" She defended adamantly, "He's the nicest, most selfless human being on the planet!" She turned to her sister for support.

Unfortunately, her sister didn't support her fully, "Well… I wouldn't disagree normally…" She started, "But… c'mon Frisk, you've gotta admit that he's been acting pretty off recently. And by recently, I mean for the past few months."

Frisk bit her lip and looked to the side, not disagreeing with her sister's statement.

"Hold up." Lynsie interrupted, "What do you mean by 'acting off'?"

Chara frowned, "Well… he's seemed more… I dunno, distant might be the word. He's been avoiding several different things, and often seems to be sleep-deprived." She turned to Gaster for support.

 ** _"I, TOO, HAVE NOTICED SUCH THINGS. HE TENDS TO AVOID MY LAB AS BEST AS HE CAN, AND I HAVEN'T SEEN HIM USE MAGIC IN A LONG TIME. IN FACT, BEFORE THIS WHOLE INCIDENT, I'D ALMOST SAY IT'S ALSO BEEN SEVERAL MONTHS SINCE HE'S LAST USED MAGIC."_**

"no magic usage? that sounds like he might have a magical overload… do humans even have magical overloads?" Sans questioned.

The other Sans shrugged, _"it's possible, but that'd be a better question to ask you. our timeline has relatively few humans who use or even know magic. from what i've been told, everyone here's basically grown up with magic."_

"So, that's one possible problem." Prince Chara acknowledged, "So what kind of things can arise from not using magic for prolonged periods of time?"

"✌💧 💧❄✌❄ 👎📪 ✋❄🕯💧 👍✌ 👎 💣✌ ✋👍✌ ✞ ✌👎📬 ✋❄ ❄ 🕈 ✌😐 💧 ❄ ✋ 👎✋✞✋👎🕆✌ 🕯💧 👍 ❄ ✞ ❄ ✋ 🕈 💣✌ ✋👍📬" (AS STATED, IT'S CALLED MAGICAL OVERLOAD. IT OFTEN WEAKENS THE INDIVIDUAL'S CONTROL OVER THEIR OWN MAGIC.)

 _"and with a purity soul, weakened control can be very dangerous."_

"SO, ALEX COULD BE IN TROUBLE?" Papyrus questioned.

 ** _"MORE LIKE HE COULD CAUSE TROUBLE IF HE'S NOT CAREFUL. BASED ON THE DAMAGES TO THE HOTEL ROOM, I THINK IT'S SAFE TO SAY THAT HIS HOLD OVER HIS SOUL AND EMOTIONS IS AT A BREAKING POINT."_**

King Asgore nodded, "And with the picture taken at Grillbys, it sounds like it wouldn't take too much to set him off." He said, looking at Gaster, "It appeared that Grillby only reached out and touched the boy, yet he still had some sort of breakdown."

 ** _"INDEED. SO, TO ANSWER YOUR EARLIER QUESTION PRINCE CHARA… WE MIGHT NEED TO BE PREPARED FOR TROUBLE. IT'LL LIKELY NOT ESCALATE TO THAT KIND OF LEVEL… BUT ONE CANNOT BE TOO PREPARED."_**

Lynsie spoke up, "So, if we should be prepared for trouble, what should we know about Alex and his magic?"

Sans took a step forward, _"let's do a recap. as mentioned, alex has a silver soul, which is purity. this trait, alone, can 'purify' souls. 'why handsome doctor sans, what do you mean by purify souls?'"_ He asked himself mockingly with a grin, _"well, it can remove other influences on your soul. possessed? He could give you a break. overcome with another magic? boom, all better. plus, it can serve as a very refined power source. i used the power of alex's soul to power my machine in snowdin, bringing my dad back into the timeline."_ He explained.

Gaster took over where his son left off, **_"NOW PURITY ALSO HAS A SECONDARY, AND ARGUABLY MORE POTENT MAGIC. IT CAN IMITATE AND EVEN COPY OTHER SOULS AND SOUL TRAITS. IF INJECTED WITH A CONCENTRATED DOSAGE OF EXTRACTED SOUL TRAITS, HIS SOUL WILL TAKE ON THAT TRAIT'S COLOR AND ALL MAGIC ASSOCIATED WITH IT… EXCEPT WITH A BIT OF AN EXTRA PUNCH TO IT. IT'S EVEN BE DOCUMENTED WHERE HE'S BEEN ABLE TO CONSTANTLY EXHIBIT MULTIPLE TRAITS AT ONCE."_**

Papyrus decided to help explain a bit, "BUT THAT'S NOT ALL. HE'S ALSO LEARNED HOW TO SELF-GENERATE SOME SOUL TRAITS." He exclaimed, before continuing, "LIKE THIS ONE TIME IN MAGIC PRACTICE, SOME GRAVITY MAGIC WENT HAYWIRE AND TURNED EVERYONE'S SOULS BLUE, BEFORE PUSHING THEM AWAY. BUT ALEX, HE WANTED TO PERSEVERE, AND IN DOING SO, HE RESISTED THE BLUE MAGIC AND MADE HIS SOUL PURPLE!"

"damn, he resisted blue gravity magic." Sans muttered, "that makes him quite the formidable opponent."

Gaster nodded, **_"THANK YOU PAPYRUS. AND THAT'S CORRECT SANS… EXCEPT THERE'S A SLIGHT DRAWBACK TO THIS. WHEN HIS SOUL CHANGES COLORS, HIS PERSONALITY COULD BE SLIGHTLY OVERRIDDEN BY THE TRAIT. IF HE FEELS KIND ENOUGH AND TURNS GREEN, HE MAY BECOME OVERLY SELFLESS FOR A WHILE. PLUS, TO MAKE THINGS EVEN WORSE, HIS SOUL CAN ALSO BE EFFECTED BY MORE… NEGATIVE TRAITS…"_**

"Like what?" Lynsie asked, "The worst trait I've seen is RUTHLESSNESS, but it isn't a hundred percent negative."

Chara stepped forward this time, frowning, "I… I've seen this in action. One time, when we were in Underfell… Alex succumbed to HATE." She admitted, before elaborating, "He became deadly and powerful… but lost his moral compass. He… he hurt me during the fight while we were fighting an evil version of Undyne and Papyrus."

The foreign Papyrus and Undyne nodded in agreement.

"THAT PLACE… IT WASN'T VERY NICE. THEY CURSED QUITE OFTEN TOO." He informed them.

Undyne nodded, "And when Alex went psycho on them, I thought it was pretty cool… until I realized he lost self-control. He almost killed them, had it not been for an alternate Frisk showing up and calming him down."

Lynsie frowned, "It sounds like these negative traits are dangerous, especially when they influence someone like Alex." She thought for a moment, "You mentioned FEAR too, right? Another negative trait from another timeline?"

Gaster nodded, **_"BETTY. A TRULY DANGEROUS BEAST. USING HER FEAR TRAIT, SHE HAD PUT ALL OF US INTO OUR WORST NIGHTMARES. DO YOU KNOW WHAT ALEX'S WORST FEAR WAS? IT WAS SUCCUMBING TO HATRED… BUT LOSING COMPLETE CONTROL AND HURTING THOSE HE LOVED… LIKE FRISK."_**

Sans spoke up now, _"and with 'fear' and 'hate' so closely linked together for alex, he might easily succumb to both at once. If he did… the results would be catastrophic."_

"so that means we need to find him as soon as possible, before he loses his marbles." Lynsie's Sans said.

 ** _"EXACTLY."_**

"FOUND HIM!" Undyne shouted as she ran back into the room with her phone in her hand. Everyone turned their undivided attention to her as she continued.

"Ebbot General Hospital confirmed that Alex had just been admitted to the hospital after an apparent 'Hiking Accident'." She said, "Apparently, he'd fallen into a hole on the mountain."

* * *

Jordan returned inside as his phone slid smoothly into his pocket.

The Dreemurrs and Verdana were happy to hear the update, and were even ecstatic upon hearing that everyone might even return the following evening. Sure, the part about Undyne venturing in alone was met with some resistance, but he still believed it was the right call.

Now, back inside, it was just the teacher and Alphys, who must have just finished going over the QMA with another inspection.

"W-What now?!" Alphys asked, unsure of what action they should take in the meantime.

Jordan stroked his chin where a light beard was forming, "Hmmm. I'm not sure. How're the FUN Values looking?"

Alphys frowned and shook her head, "Not g-good. They s-seem to be even more unstable s-since we sent Undyne."

Jordan thought about this for a moment. Could they have just made matters worse by sending Undyne over? Who knows… Oh wait! There's one person that knows.

Jordan cupped his hands around his mouth and called out, "Core Frisk, we need some help!" His voice echoed throughout the lab in otherwise silence. No response.

Alphys scratched the back of her neck, "Hmmm, th-that usually works…"

The teacher frowned and nodded, "Yes, unless they're ignoring us."

"P-please Frisk." Alphys asked nicely, "W-we really n-need some h-help…"

Finally, after a few moments of silence, the monochromatic child in question appeared in the lab before them, with their arms crossed over their chest. "Alright, alright. I'm here." They said gently with a small frown.

"Frisk, we could really use some help here. Can you PLEASE tell us what's going on?"

"Y-yeah, h-how's Undyne? Wh-what's g-going on with the F-FUN Values?"

Core Frisk sighed, "Alright, I'm going to cut straight to the point. You guys and Gaster… you all really messed up again." They began, "Your connection to the other timeline has caused both of them to fluctuate and gravitate toward each other."

Alphys gasped, "A t-timeline convergence?!"

Core Frisk nodded, "Basically, yes. Right now, Gaster and everyone else over there are working to fix the problem, but it's only getting worse."

"What can we do? Should we open up another portal and send Alphys and myself over there?" Jordan asked, trying to come up with a solution.

Unfortunately, this question only made Core Frisk looked even more frustrated, "Absolutely not. If you want to help, don't do anything. No more QMA travel or anything."

Jordan crossed his arms now, "Is this another one of your 'recommendations', or is this actually life-or-death."

Core Frisk puffed out their cheeks, "Life-or-death!" They said angrily, "If you try to connect again as it is, you'll bring yourselves only closer to destruction! And, I don't make recommendations! You just choose to interpret what I say as simple recommendations and ignore my warnings."

"T-to be f-fair, you didn't w-warn us about this t-timeline until we a-already connected." Alphys said, interrupting Core's rant.

Core Frisk sighed and pinched the bridge of their nose in annoyance, "Fine, I admit it. I probably should've come in and said something earlier, but… honestly, do you really think Gaster would've listened to me?"

Jordan chuckled, "Probably not." He then grew more serious, "But even so, we need to fix this. Do Gaster and the others know what needs to be done to fix this?"

Core Frisk nodded, "Yes, and they're working on a QMA over there. So, if you're actually going to listen to me… DON'T TRY TO CONNECT AGAIN!" Core Frisk warned, "Give it time, and if everything works out, they'll connect from the other side eventually."

"If everything works out? What's going on over there, Core?"

"Frisk!" They shouted, "My name is Frisk. I've told you a million times already. You can refer to me as Core Frisk, but MY NAME is Frisk!"

"Alright, alright, sorry." Jordan apologized, holding his hands up in surrender, "What's going on over there, Frisk."

They frowned, "Alex's in deep water right now. You might not have noticed, but he's been quite… damaged from everything that's happened."

"Wh-what do you m-mean?" Alphys asked, concerned.

"PTSD." Core Frisk explained, "One of the Gasters informed me that it's something I, too, suffer from. It seems that all of his near-death and frightening experiences have added up and taken a toll on poor Alex."

Jordan's eyes opened widely in alarm, "Shit, his Purity Soul." Core Frisk nodded in agreement, confirming Jordan's fears.

Alphys looked at Jordan with some confusion, "Wh-what about his Soul? Would PTSD a-affect him differently?"

Jordan nodded, "His Purity Soul is highly sensitive to emotion. Like, when he feels determined enough, it'll turn red with Determination." Alphys nodded, letting Jordan continue.

"Likewise, negative emotions can corrupt and almost 'seize' control of him. Like with hatred, where the emotion blinded him to nearly all reason for a short period of time."

Alphys' eyes widened as the realization hit her, "S-so his PTSD c-could cause his Soul t-to become overwhelmed with n-negative emotion!"

Core Frisk nodded, "In fact, so far while he's been over there, he's had two meltdowns. One of which resulted in property damage." They informed the pair.

Jordan turned to Core Frisk, "Then you need to go over there and warn them!" Jordan demanded, "They need to know what's going on! Why don't you tell them where he is? Why don't you appear to him and try to keep him calm?"

Core Frisk raised one finger, "First of all, I try to keep out of most timeline's problems unless my presence is necessary." They then raised a second finger, "Secondly, after what happened with the Entity forcibly ejecting me from this timeline for a while, I'd rather not have something similar happen if I get on Lynsie's bad side." Finally, they raised a third finger, "And lastly, your stupid FUN Values are interfering with my connection."

"Wh-what?" Alphys asked.

Core Frisk nodded, "It's a miracle that I'm able to connect and talk to you guys right now as it is. It's taking as much of my Determination as I can muster to maintain this… quite frankly, I don't have the Determination, nor drive to try to connect to that one enough to make my presence known. Plus, as I've already mentioned, I'd rather not make my presence known there…"

Core Frisk paused and looked down at the ground with a sad frown, "…And you know my curse… where I cause timelines to split whenever I physically interact…" They said, still frowning, "I really, REALLY, don't want to split Renewtale any more than it already is…"

Jordan frowned, but soon sighed and nodded, "Alright then… so if that's out of the question… and connecting is out of the question too… what can we do?"

Alphys turned to Core Frisk, "F-frisk, when J-Jordan used h-his magic to influence and h-halt the FUN V-Values, did if effect their timeline a-at all?"

Core Frisk nodded, "Yes, while it only halted your own fluctuations previously, you might be able to slow both sides now… now that your timelines are even more connected thanks to your most recent use of the QMA."

Jordan nodded, "Then I can try to buy them more time." He realized, a smile forming on his face, "Finally, something we can do from here!"

Jordan took a deep breath and extended both of his arms out to his sides as he concentrated. Slowly, his regal, golden soul of Creativity exited his body and hovered in front of his chest. It began to beat like a real heart, sending out small pulses of energy and magic as the pace of this began to increase slowly.

Then, a golden aura covered Jordan's entire body as he began to grunt in discomfort, "Damn, this hurts." He grunted as he held the connection to the FUN Values, slowing down their fluctuations.

Alphys looked at Jordan with concern, "I-I'll get some items to h-help keep your st-stamina up." Alphys said, before pausing and looking at Core Frisk, "Th-thanks F-Frisk."

For the first time in a while, while interacting with this timeline, Core Frisk smiled genuinely and softly as they nodded, their hair bobbing a bit from the nod, "No problem. And Jordan… good luck…" They said, before vanishing once more.

Alphys then ran off to collect things to help maintain Jordan's magic as long as they could. It was one of the only ways they'd be able to help from this side. She just hoped that it'd be enough…

* * *

Alex woke up with a groan in an unknown location to the sound of a beeping monitor. He tried to open his eyes, but the brightness burned, so he closed them immediately. After a few more moments of consciousness, he forced them open once more and looked around the room.

He appeared to be in a hotel room. He looked down to see he was lying in a hospital bed and wearing a hospital gown over his normal outfit. The bed was entirely white, as was the tiled floor, the ceiling, and the walls. Too little color for his taste, but he'd survive.

To his left was a large window, from which he could see Mt. Ebbot in the distance, with the moon behind it. Well… that'd be the case if it weren't obscured by the heavy rain and storms currently sounding off outside. The sun was fully down and night had claimed the world as he was unconscious. To his right was the single exit of the room. He needed to leave. To find Sans. To find anyone!

He tried to sit up, but was met with resistance and pain in his chest. He looked down his gown to see bandages around his chest. He imagined the skin being black and blue beneath the bandages. Upon seeing that, he noticed the bandages wrapped around his head, too. The pain he felt… he probably broke a few ribs and earned a nice gash on the head from the fall.

THE FALL!

SHIT!

'What the fuck happened?!' He thought as his heart-rate began to climb rapidly. 'Why didn't I land on the flowers? Why aren't I in the Underground?' He wondered. It didn't make any sense. Did he fall down the wrong hole? No, impossible, that HAD to be it. So… what happened? And how'd he get here?

That's when he remembered the voice. It must have been another hiker. They had scared him and he fell. The hiker probably called 911 right afterwards, hence why he's currently in a hospital.

His escalating heart-rate soon raised alarms as his heart-rate monitor began to make louder, more annoying noises. Within seconds, an adult woman rushed into the room.

She had shoulder-length brown hair and brown eyes, and wore the stereotypical blue scrubs that nurses are often seen wearing. It'd be safe to assume that she's a nurse. She also wore these enchanting earrings with unique blue gemstones, the like of which Alex had never seen.

Her brown eyes were filled with worry as she ran into the room, but she calmed down a bit when she saw that the patient was awake.

"Oh, oh thank goodness." She said, sighing in relief as she continued to walk forward to quiet the machines. After the room went quiet, she spoke again, smiling gently towards Alex, "Good evening, I'm your nurse, Susie." Susie stretched her right arm out toward Alex, offering to do a handshake.

Alex calmed down a bit and smiled back, stretching his right arm out slowly and taking hers, shaking it. "I-I'm Alex." He said, introducing himself.

"Well, hello there Alex. Are you feeling okay?" She asked, looking at his chest area with concern in her eyes.

Alex slowly nodded, "I… I think so. My chest hurts when I bend forward and I have a light pain in my head, but that's about it."

She smiled and nodded, "That's expected. Your fall earned you two broken ribs and a few stitches on the side of your head. You're lucky that nothing more serious happened when you fell."

"Y-yeah, guess I am pretty lucky." He replied, smiling. "Nurse Susie, what happened?" He asked, wondering what had occurred after he fell.

"Well, another hiker on the trail saw you leave the path. He called out to you, but you must have freaked out and tripped, before falling down a hole on the Mountain." She told him.

"A hole? There's more? Is there, like, a cave system underneath the mountain?" Alex asked. Perhaps she would know something.

She shook her head, "No sir, there's nothing underneath the mountain, but a few holes have appeared over the years." She said, before pausing, "Well, there's also a small tunnel that was made to check the unique gemstones found under the mountain." She motioned towards her earrings, "My father was one of the workers there. He found these two, small gems and made earrings out of them for me."

Alex smiled and nodded, "They're nice…" He complimented, earning a friendly smile in return. After a moment, he asked, "So, what happened after I fell?"

"The hiker heard you scream as he dialed 911. A helicopter came in and pulled you out, before bringing you here. You've only been out for about an hour. Again, you're really lucky."

"S-so…" He began, trying to figure out how he'd phrase this. "If I'm that lucky, what happens now?"

She smiled, "Don't worry, we have people looking for your family. We'll probably keep you here overnight, just to make sure there's nothing else wrong with you." She said, trying to reassure him. Unfortunately, Alex wasn't reassured. He had to find someone as soon as possible. And, he couldn't just stay here, the authorities would soon discover that he shouldn't exist AND that he'd damaged the hotel room.

Alex knew what he had to do. He'd play along, and sneak out in the middle of the night.

Alex forced a smile and nodded, "Th-thanks."

She smiled back and nodded, "No problem. Now, I'm going to conduct a few tests, is that alright?"

Alex nodded, "Like what?"

She looked down at the clipboard in her hands and checked, "Well… it seems that the blood tests and your vitals are all taken care of… oh, we have yet to do a Soul Check on you, so we'll do that."

That's the first time he'd heard of a 'Soul Check'. Sure, his Soul had been 'checked' from time to time in Gaster's lab by Alphys and Gaster, but never in a hospital. Had magic and technology been together on the surface for THAT long? Back home, it'd be years before the hospitals would even begin considering Soul data to be relevant to health.

"I… I've never had a Soul Check before." Alex admitted, "How's it going to work?"

Nurse Susie could detect the worry in Alex's voice, "Don't worry Alex. It's minimally invasive and shouldn't hurt at all." She tried to reassure him, "I'll summon my Soul forth, which will make yours come out as well. I'll do a quick check-up on your Soul, take some notes, and we'll be done. Sound good?"

Alex nodded, "What… what color is your Soul?"

She smiled, before she put a finger to her lips, "Shhh, it's a secret. I'll show you in a moment, but… let's just say that I'm pretty PASSIONate about my job." She said with a smile.

Alex nodded and smiled back, but inside, he was confused. Passionate? Is that the 'anomaly' trait of this world? Was that even a trait? Is SHE the anomaly? She seems nice enough, so maybe he'd ask her more about this world in a moment.

"Now, take a deep breath and relax. Keep your eyes locked onto the center of your chest, alright?"

Alex nodded. He breathed in. He breathed out.

Suddenly, his Soul began to emerge from his chest. He watched it as it rose and hovered before him. It was harshly discolored and dark. No sheen or shine was present on his normally silver Soul. Instead, it was a dark, dull gray. A few shades darker, and it'd be pure black. How… ugly… He was interrupted from his thoughts by the nurse's curse.

Nurse Susie whispered under her breath, "Holy shit."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her look up at Alex's face, making him look back at her as she spoke again, "What the heck happened to your Soul?" She asked, voice full of concern.

However, that didn't matter at the moment. Alex's eyes locked onto the other glowing heart present. It was a bright, glowing, innocent Soul floating before him…

…Except that it was pink…

Pink… Fear… Betty… Death… Anger… Fear…

Suddenly, Susie's face wasn't hers… He saw Betty smiling down at him with her deceivingly innocent smile. Her pink highlights to her naturally brown hair caught his attention as devious giggling echoed around him, threatened to pull Alex into despair. He felt shivers run down his spine as his heart-rate accelerated, setting off the machines once more.

Alex became very, very afraid… and… and…

…

 ***You are filled with Pure Hatred and Pure Fear**

* * *

 ** _Author's Note:_**

 ** _Getting closer to the 'Vs Alex' FIGHT with Lynsie. Stay tuned, and sorry for the cliffhanger... (Sorry, not sorry. lol)  
_**

 ** _I got really excited for the fight, so my writing speed has seemed to increase, as did my determination for writing. I finished this chapter and the previous one so quickly, I decided to do a double-day upload! Hope you enjoyed the nice surprise as I continue working on this FUN, little story. Hopefully I'll get the next one up by Monday, if not sooner._**

 ** _Sorry, but I've got a lot of stuff to take care of, including the start of my next semester on college!  
_**


	12. Corrupted Purity is no longer Pure

**Remember: Spoilers for Undertale, my story, and R.I.P Lynn's are contained within this story. **

**If you'd rather not be spoiled in any of those three ways, please stop now and go read the other stories or play the game. (It's worth it!)**

 **If you need another reminder/overview of either of our stories, please go back to chapter one or two to check them out.**

 **Thanks again to R.I.P. Lynn for making this possible.**

 **Now, time to check on everyone!**

* * *

 **Chapter Twelve:** Corrupted Purity is no longer Pure

"What?!" Frisk said, eyes wide, "What are we waiting for, let's go!" She shouted enthusiastically, jumping up from her chair and turning to face the others.

Chara stood up as well, "I agree, we know where Alex is. Let's get to him as soon as possible."

Prince Chara shook his head, "We need to think this through, though." He reasoned, "If we all show up, he may try to take off again."

 _"as much as I hate to disagree with ya, frisk, the prince is right. we can't risk panicking him."_ Sans said with a sigh.

Frisk shook her head, determined, "But I'LL be there!" She shouted, "He'll calm down and trust me as long as I'm there."

Lynsie nodded, "Then a small group, perhaps. Most of us can wait here, while a few of you could go and retrieve him."

Gaster nodded, **_"I AGREE, PRINCESS. PERHAPS IT SHOULD BE US, FROM HIS TIMELINE. HE'D TRUST US MORE THAN HE WOULD TRUST SEEING YOU OR THE OTHERS." He reasoned._**

"✡ 💧📪 😐 🏱 ✋💣 👍✌ 💣 ✌ 👎 ✠🏱 ✌✋ ❄ 💧✋❄🕆 ✌❄✋ ❄ ✌ ✠📬 ❄ ✌❄ 🕈 🕆 👎 👌 ❄ 👌 💧❄ ✌ 👎 💧✌ 💧❄ 👍 🕆 💧 ✌👍❄✋ 📬" (YES, KEEP HIM CALM AND EXPLAIN THE SITUATION TO ALEX. THAT WOULD BE THE BEST AND SAFEST COURSE OF ACTION.) Lynn's Gaster said, agreeing.

"Excellent, let's go!" Frisk said, ready to go, "It should be me, Sans, Papyrus, and Chara."

"I'LL COME TOO. IF OUR WHOLE GROUP SHOWED UP, HE'D KNOW THAT WE'RE OK."

Lynsie smiled, "Then we'll wait here, I guess."

"DON'T WORRY PRINCESS." The alternate Papyrus said, "WE'LL BE BACK WITH OUR FRIEND IN NO TIME!"

 _"hehe, that's right bro."_

Undyne put her hands on her hips, "And what about me? Am I chopped liver?"

 _"_ nah _, you're more like fish sticks."_

Undyne narrowed her eyes at the punning skeleton, while several individuals around the room struggled not to show their amusement.

"good one, me." Lynn's Sans complimented, "water you waiting for, undyne? you should go too, it wouldn't hurt."

She rolled her eyes and sighed, "Alright, alright. ...Stupid fish puns." She finished, muttering under her breath.

Sans winked, _"hehe."_

Suddenly, the captain's phone rang, "Hello, Captain Undyne speaking." After a moment of silence on her end, her blue scales paled to white.

"U-Undyne, wh-what's wrong?" Alphys asked, concerned.

"Undyne, what happened?" The King asked.

She turned to face them all, "There's been some sort of explosion at the hospital."

Everyone gasped, "WHAT HAPPENED?"

"They don't know… but it originated from Alex's room."

Frisk's eyes widened in fear, "He's in trouble! We have to go now!" She said, pushing Sans quickly, "C'mon, use a shortcut, dammit!" She said, shaking said skeleton.

Sans shook his head, _"something tells me that alex might have been the one who caused the explosion."_

 ** _"SO THAT MEANS… SOMETHING MUST'VE SNAPPED."_**

"What do we do now?" Lynsie asked, "If Alex has gone rogue, then we need a new strategy."

Papyrus responded, "WE CAN STILL TALK HIM DOWN." He reassured everyone, "LAST TIME, IT ONLY TOOK FRISK'S FACE TO CALM HIM DOWN, AND IT WASN'T EVEN HIS FRISK. SURELY, HE CAN STILL BE REASONED WITH."

Sans' smile twitched a bit as he kept it forced, _"that's a good idea, pap. however, last time, he had been practicing magic and wasn't suffering from a possible case of ptsd."_

 **"ACTUALLY, I AGREE WITH PAPYRUS. WE SHOULD CONTINUE WITH OUR ORIGINAL PLAN AND TRY TO CALM ALEX DOWN."**

 _"and if that doesn't work? dad, you gotta remember that_ alex _is a lot stronger then we give him credit for."_

The alternate Sans pointed out.

"leave it to us." Sans cut in, gaining everyone's attention, "if you can't reason with him, try taking him somewhere where he can't hurt anyone. let us give it a try. we'll be like your backup plan."

Prince Chara smirked, pounding his fist into his other hand, "We've got expertise on kicking ass. What's one little kid?"

Prince Asriel nodded, extending his hands as fireballs formed in his hands, "I might not have my hyperdeath abilities, but I can help restrain Alex."

Captain Undyne grinned, summoning cyan spears in both hands, "I've been itching for some real action. If he's half as tough as you say he is, then it'll be a blast!"

Toriel hesitantly nodded, "I'd have to agree. As much as I hate violence, it might be necessary to stop him. If you fail at your task, we will be ready."

Lynsie nodded, "I've taken down both of my power-crazed brothers before." She said, remembering those duels, "If you can't do it, then all of us plus my Anomaly State might be able to do the trick.

The alternate Sans smiled lightly and nodded, _"sounds good. let's just hope it doesn't get to that point. you all should find an isolated location. me and g will shortcut him over there if it gets to that point."  
_  
Lynsie got an idea, "On the edge of town." She began, pointing out a nearby window, "There's an isolated field where no one could get hurt. Take him there if you need help. We'll be waiting in the treeline."

King Asgore rose from his seat, "This sounds like a plan." He summoned his red trident in his paws, "Good luck."

The alternates nodded, as they vanished from the scene and towards the hospital.

The six of them reappeared in front of the hospital as an evacuation was underway. Looking up, they could see the darkness enveloping the fifth floor as the rain came to a stop. The lights blinked and flashed on and off on that floor, signaling that this would likely be the floor Alex was on. Sans looked at everyone else with a strained smile.

"you all ready?"

He got several determined nods from the others as he nodded in response. _"alright, let's go save alex."_

* * *

The group began climbing the stairs as an odd song began playing over the intercoms with a glitch static playing in the background. Whatever this music was, it was certainly not natural. Had the FUN values caused this? Perhaps. However, this was a song the two accompanying humans knew… as did Alex.

'Standing on the edge of the crater… Like the prophets once said…'

"And the ashes… are all cold now, no more bullets… and the embers are dead." Frisk sang along quietly as they climbed the staircase.

"FRISK, YOU KNOW THIS SONG?"

Frisk nodded, "It was one of Alex's favorites..." She said with a sad smile.

Chara, this time, sung along and continued the song. "Whispers in the air tell the tales… Of the brothers gone." Sans and Papyrus looked to one another with a look of disapproval for that line of the song.

As they reached the fourth floor of the stairwell, they heard distant singing coming from the next floor up. It… it sounded like Alex…

 **"Desolation, devastation. What a mess we made, when it all went wrong…"** He sang, sounding muffled from their position. The six of them looked at one another, before nodding in silent agreement. It was time to pick up their pace.

They began to quickly climb higher as the next part of the song played.

' _Watching from the edge of the circus.'_

 _'For the games to begin.'_

 _'Gladiators draw their swords,'_

 _'Form their ranks for Armageddon.'_

 **"I'm nuclear… I'm wild… I'm breaking up inside… A heart of broken glass… Defiled… Deep inside… The abandoned child…"** Alex's voice sang, now clearer but more distorted than it previously was. This didn't sound good. Undyne readied a spear in her hand as Sans' left eye ignited and Gaster's two eyes began to let out a soft purple glow.

The six of them reached the top of the staircase and exited onto the fifth floor. The fire detection system must have gone off from the explosion, as the sprinkler system created a haze of water on the soaked interior of the hospital. The lights flickered on the brink of death as several walls lay broken in pieces. However, there was no sign of life to any of them. No nurses... no patients... no doctors... nothing... They were either dead or evacuated... and boy were they hoping it was the latter.

The stairway deposited them in front of the elevators, which were currently non-operational, where they still saw no sign of Alex.

As they searched for him, the next verse began. Frisk sang along loudly with her sweet, delicate voice, in an attempt to reach out to Alex, wherever he was on this floor.

"Standing… on the edge… of the underworld… Looking at the Abyss." Frisk continued, frowning a bit.

Chara got the hint and sang the next two lines, "And I'm hoping… for some miracle… To breakout, to escape from all this."

 **"Whispers… in the air… tell the tales… Of a life that's gone…"** Alex's distorted voice sang out, before going silent and letting the song continue the verse alone.

 _'Desolation... devastation.'_

 _'What a mess we made...'_

 _'When it all went wrooooooooonnnggg.'_

Sans felt something was wrong, just as the song said… and he trusted his instincts for a good reason. Without a moment's notice, he slammed everyone's Soul with blue magic and sent them flying to the ground as a beam of black-laced Purity magic zoomed past them and hit the elevators behind them.

They could hear the cracking, snapping, and moaning of the elevator systems and safety equipment failing from the damage and strain put on it. Another hit would send those elevators hurtling towards the bottom floor.

They looked up from their positions on the floor and peered into the darkness down the hall as a familiar human stepped forward. He wore a crazed smile and wore a soaked pair of jeans and a red and white sweater. Burnt remnants of a hospital gown laid scattered across his person as the human tightly gripped a magical bone sword in his right hand… the Clavicle.

Alex smirked darkly with his left hand stretched out towards them. His Soul hummed silently in front of his chest. But, instead of his Soul being its usual, pretty silver color, it was now dark grey… nearly black as it was filled with Hatred… and… something else… Small tints and signs of the color pink were also present. Fear?! That' definitely not a good sign.

The music continued as he stood there in silence, no longer singing along.

 _'I'm nuclear.'_

 _'I'm wild.'_

 _'I'm breaking up inside.'_

 _'A heart of broken glass…'_

 _'Defiled…'_

 _'Deep inside…'_

 _'The abandoned child.'_

As the music swapped to a momentary instrumental, Frisk stood back up to her feet.

"A-Alex?"

Alex eyed her carefully, tightening his grip on his blade as he stayed silent, **"…"**

Gaster examined Alex's Soul from a distance, _**"ALEX, YOU MUST LISTEN TO US."**_ He began, trying to reason with the child, _**"WE'RE NOT HERE TO HURT YOU. YOU MUST FIGHT THIS FEELING. THIS ANGER… THIS RAGE… THIS… HATRED AND FEAR… THIS IS NOT YOU ALEX. YOU ARE A CHILD OF PURITY, NOT A CHILD OF HATRED."**_

Alex still didn't respond, making Papyrus step forward between his friends on both sides. He took in a deep breath before speaking, "ALEX… MY DEAR FRIEND…" He began, "REMEMBER ALL OF OUR GOOD TIMES? THE PUZZLES? THE JOKES AND JAPES? THE SPAGHETTI?" He pointed at the blade in Alex's hand, "REMEMBER? I GAVE YOU THAT BLADE AS A GIFT."

Again, Alex did not respond, prompting Papyrus to take another deep breath and take another step forward. He held out both of his arms to his sides, showing he had no weapons on him while also beckoning Alex to come over for a hug, "ANYONE CAN BE A GOOD PERSON, AS LONG AS THEY TRY. YOU'RE ONLY ANGRY BECAUSE YOU HAVEN'T TRIED YET." He reasoned, smiling widely at Alex, "COME HERE, ALEX. LET'S HUG THIS OUT AND FORGET ABOUT ALL OF THIS. I KNOW YOU DIDN'T MEAN TO CAUSE THIS EXPLOSION. YOU JUST WANT TO BE SAFE AND GO HOME… COME HERE… FRIEND… PLEASE?" He asked nicely.

Alex's right hand began to shake a bit as it looked like his will to fight was faltering. He took a small step forward… then another… and then another. He was almost to Papyrus… almost ready for a hug… But Sans caught the murderous gleam in his eyes… he saw the killing intent in the kid's Soul.

Without hesitation, he pinged Alex's Soul blue and sent him flying into the wall to his left, right as he attempted to swing his blade at Papyrus' neck.

Alex slammed into the wall with great force, before he hit the ground and began climbing to his feet.

"SANS!" Papyrus yelled in disbelief, "I WAS GETTING TO HIM. HE WAS ABOUT TO COME IN FOR ONE OF THE GREAT PAPYRUS' GREAT HUGS OF GREATNESS."

Undyne frowned and shook her head, stepping past Papyrus to shield him, "I'm sorry Papy, but that wasn't a hug he was coming in for." She said sadly, "He… he was going to kill you, Papyrus."

Papyrus' eye sockets widened in disbelief. He shook his head, "N-NO… TH-THAT CANNOT BE…" He said, utterly stunned.

Sans stepped forward too, _"don't worry about it, bro. you remember when he was consumed by hate. he was unreasonable then… and with hate and fear… he's completely unreasonable right now…"_

Alex climbed back to his feet and smirked as he wiped the blood from his mouth with the sleeve of his sweater, **"Now…"** He said, finally speaking to them directly, **"That was a cheap blow, Sans… even for you…"**

Sans shrugged and shook his skull, _"sorry pal, but after dadster, here, showed me the timeline where the kid killed papy, i'd sworn to never let something like that happen ever again."_

Alex gripped his blade in both hands as the instrumental ended. He shrugged, **"So be it."**

Alex lunged forwards at the comedic skeleton with his blade ready to rip through bone, as he shortcutted out of the way. Ready for this, Alex stopped mid-leap and began to turn around, but that's when he forgot about the newest arrival… Undyne. His Soul immediately pinged green as his feet were cemented in place.

 _'I'm nuclear… I'm wild…'_

Alex focused on his Soul, forcing it back to its previous hideous shade as he broke free from the Soul Magic, before slashing at Undyne and knocking her down. Thanks to her upgraded armor AND the fact that Alex's LV was still at 1, she survived the harsh blow filled with killing intent with only a medium-sized gash across her chestplate that only went halfway through it.

However, the blow was enough to knock her on her butt as she fell to the ground. Alex must've thought he struck a near-fatal blow because he then returned his attention to Sans. The two other humans rushed over to check on her. That's when his Soul pinged blue.

 _'I'm breaking up… inside.'_

Sans and Papyrus, both, held Alex in place with their combination of blue gravity magic. With two Monsters worth of gravity Magic, it made resisting the magic even harder.

"ALEX, DON'T FIGHT US! WE MEAN YOU NO HARM!" Papyrus shouted, trying to calm down the rouge human. He was, unfortunately, unsuccessful.

 _"kid… listen to me."_ Sans said, his coats now soaked all-the-way-through, _"you're not really giving us much of a choice here. now, you need to chill the hell out, or there will be consequences."_

 _'A heart of broken glass…'_

Alex shook his head, **"Consequences?** **I'm your damn Anomaly! Consequences don't apply to me!** **Since when do they apply to me?"** He asked, his voice still distorted by the darkness in his Soul. The darkness built to higher and higher levels, before a shock-wave of dark magic flew out from his Soul, sending the two skeletons stumbling backward as their hold on Alex failed.

 _'Defiled…'_

The shadow-like human leaped towards Papyrus in another bid for his life, but Sans was one step ahead. He raised a wall of cyan bones between the human and his brother, preventing him from hitting Papyrus… expect… that's not what happened. The blade ignored the cyan bones like they weren't there, killing Papyrus and turning him into dust instantly.

No! Sans couldn't have failed like this! HE COULDN'T HAVE!

Wait… that's it… he couldn't have.

 _'Deep inside… The abandoned child!'_ The song continued.

Sans blinked the false image away as he forced the fear from his system.

The scene quickly swapped to Alex leaping towards Sans. He was mere inches from puncturing Sans when a wall of darkness interrupted the two of them. Sans herd the cling of the blade hitting the solid wall, proving that his blade had not gotten through it.

Sans knew that only one Monster with them would've summoned such a wall. It was Doctor W. D. Gaster… master of Void magic. Sans knew what he had to do. He pulled out his phone and speed dialed Princess Lynsie. He quickly spoke into the receiver.

 _"it's worse than we thought. looks like we might need plan b."_

 _'Deep inside the abandoned child…'_ The Song finished, leaving only the sounds of the falling water and magic to fill the void of otherwise silence.

W. D. Gaster stared down the child with a mask of indifference. Both of his hands were outstretched as he maintained walls of darkness to shield the two of his sons from this… freak's violence. Whoever this was… this wasn't Alex. Alex would never try to hurt his friends… much less try to kill them… much less… use the dreaded FEAR magic against them.

 _ **"CHILD OF PURITY."** _He began, maintaining his indifferent and smug mask, _ **"YOUR SKILLS WITH THE DARKNESS, ALTHOUGH IMPRESSIVE, ARE NO MATCH FOR SOMEONE WHO'D LIVED AN ETERNITY WITHIN THE TRUEST DARKNESS OF ALL REALITY… THE VOID. THIS IS YOUR FINAL CHANCE, ALEX. SURRENDER… OR YOU, TOO, SHALL BE LOST TO THE DARKNESS OF THE VOID FOR AN ETERNITY."**_

Ultimately, it was an empty threat, but he was really hoping that Alex would fall for the ruse. If he was being honest, however, he SHOULD be superior with darkness-based magic… but that was more on the physical side of darkness, and less on the moral, evil-based darkness magic Alex was currently wielding. However, Alex did not know all of this, so he was hoping this would work.

Alex seemed to consider it for a moment, before he smirked, **"You can try, Wing Ding."** He said, before leaping at the skeleton with his sword drawn.

Gaster withdrew his walls of darkness and redirected it into a flat mass of darkness, covering the floor beneath them. Using the Perseverance within his burnt Soul, he imbued purple magic into the darkness as powerful tendrils formed from the magical substance flew out of the ground and wrapped around Alex quickly, freezing him midair.

Before Alex could even think of cutting the tendrils beneath him, he swung his hand to the right, commanding the tendrils to throw him in that direction… where a new wall of darkness appeared in time to catch him midair with an uncomfortable impact. Again, before Alex could hit the ground, the wall caught him and held him in place for a moment as a massive Gaster Blaster appeared to Gaster's left, charging its beam of purple KARMA.

He noticed that the two impacts had not lowered Alex's HP at all. It was likely a combination of Alex's heightened stats and Gaster's inexperience in battle. He was not much of a warrior. Sure, he'd designed such devices, techniques, and attacks, but he was not trained in combat. His 'experience' came in the form of his intellect, which didn't help much in the damage department. However, some KARMA would be sure to drain Alex's HP without lowering it below 1 HP.

Alex, however, only smirked as he closed his eyes. Gaster thought this odd but paid it no mind. That was his gravest error made so far. As the blaster nearly finished charging up, Alex sent out another pulse from his Soul. This time, instead of being imbued with FEAR… it was imbued with a horrible concentration of HATE.

The inky, black magic absorbed into Gaster's wall before it began to eat away and corrode Alex's bonds almost instantly. His charging blaster fired as Alex dropped harmlessly out of the way. Instead, it zoomed through the now non-existent wall, before colliding with Papyrus as it began draining his HP. Gaster quickly unsummoned his blaster as he called out, _**"PAPYRUS!"**_ He screamed.

Papyrus held a shaky smile as he fought to remained standing, "I- I'M FINE DAD." He shouted back.

Before Gaster could get over his shock, he was slashed across the chest with Alex's blade, which… as designed… was more deadly and potent against other bones and bone attacks. Gaster clutched at his chest as he fell to his knees. His bony hand was coated in his own blood as the majority of it was absorbed by his nice outfit and lab coat.

It's almost ironic that skeletons would bleed, unlike other monsters… it made their deaths… their murders... even more horrifying than most…

Gaster looked up to see Alex staring down at him, no pity or regret in his black eyes. Gaster coughed out a mixture of blood and dust as he tried to speak, his HP at dangerously low levels.

 _ **"HEH… HEH… GUESS I DIDN'T… LIVE UP TO THE HYPE... EH, ALEX?"**_ He asked, rhetorically, before frowning, _**"I'M SORRY ALEX… G-GUESS I…"**_ He coughed up another round of blood and dust, _**"… GUESS I'M DONE NOW… I APOLOGIZE…"**_

 **"Just die, and give me my rightfully earned LOVE,"** Alex said, distorted voice filled with absolutely no remorse. He prepared to swing his sword once more before he felt a horrible pain blossom in his left shoulder. He turned his head to see a knife embedded into, with his 'sister' Chara holding the handle of the blade.

He swung around quickly, dislodging the knife from his shoulder blade as he turned around to face Chara. His wound began to soak his sweater with blood as the wound closed itself with the Pure Hatred radiating off of his Soul. This, however, came at a price. The darkness necessary for such a healing use cost him some of his DEF that the darkness provided.

 **"Ah, 'sister'…"** He said, venom laced in his voice as she could basically hear the air quotes accompanying his speech, **"I thought you'd be all for this. Weren't you the one who was plotting with Asriel to kill Humanity?"**

Chara's red eyes stared at Alex's black ones as she shook her head, "I'm different now… I was wrong!" She admitted, "Violence is not the answer… it's not necessary here, Alex."

Alex frowned and shook his head, **"That's where you're wrong."** He informed her, " **Because with violence, comes XP. And with XP, comes LOVE. And with a high enough LOVE…"** He said, leaving his sentence unfinished as the threat remained in the air.

Frisk gasped beside Chara as she joined her sister, "A-Alex!" She cried out, "Y-you can't mean that. Y-you'd destroy both timelines?" She asked, appalled.

Alex shrugged, **"That's the only true path to peace for myself. A future where no one can hurt me or take advantage of me…"** He then narrowed his eyes at his 'girlfriend', **"…not even you, Frisk."** He said, speaking that last word with such venom that it caused Frisk to flinch and lower her guard.

Alex took advantage of this as he dove at Frisk with the intent to drive his blade through her heart. No amount of lowercase love could pull him out of his current insanity. Chara, however, remained vigilant and alert. She took her knife and parried his strike. He struck again, only to clash blades with his sister as they remained locked on one another.

Chara smirked, before Alex sent magic into his Soul, blasting Chara point blank with it and sending her flying far back. She flew before she was caught by Undyne, who seemed to have recovered slightly. Frisk took one more horror-filled look at her boyfriend before she ran back over to them.

Gaster and his two sons were with the other three as the former was cared for by the latter two.

Alex frowned and straightened his posture as he took the six of them, **"Giving up on me already?"** He asked, feigning an injured heart, **"I thought you were my friends… that you cared about me…"** He said, before frowning, **"Guess I really was right… with no one on my side, the only thing I can do to protect myself is to be alone…"**

Frisk reached out toward him hesitantly, "I care about you, Alex!" She said, tears forming in her eyes, "Don't I mean ANYTHING to you, Alex? I…" The tears burst forward as she finished her thought, "I love you, Alex!"

Alex's Soul shuddered as Silver attempted to break through the darkness, but the darkness would not yield willingly. Alex clutched at his Soul for a moment as he tried to speak, the weird 'filter' of darkness momentarily losing its grip.

" **F-Frisk...** I… Of c-course I c-care about you…" He said, tears threatening to form in his own eyes.

"Then come here, Alex!" She cried out, "I love you, you're still good! This isn't who you are. You love me too, right?"

Alex slowly nodded as his will to fight threatened to break.

Unfortunately, this was too similar to a past experience. Alex heard a distant echo of a memory. The speaker was 'Frisk'.

{"A-Alex?!" She asked in tears and sobs.} It echoed.

{Horrifying and maniacal laughter filled the air as Frisk's voice changed from sad to sadistic "Hahaha, Alex? What's wrong?!" She asked as she gripped the knife she had hidden from view. She had tried to kill him.}

Alex remembered his attempt at mercy back then. His weakness had nearly cost him his life. Despite the difference of circumstances, it was all the Hatred and Fear needed to reconquer Alex's Soul. His flashback caused the Silver to fully disappear from his Soul as his sad frown twisted into a snarl.

 **"HOW DARE YOU!"** He shouted in unimpeded rage, **"You dare try to play with me like a toy, before killing me?"**

The six of them knew that, after what had just happened, there'd be no 'reasoning' with Alex now. That was the closest they came to freeing him and breaking him out of this 'meltdown', but if that didn't work, then plan b was a necessity.

The group of four Monsters and two Humans had all backed up and regrouped, with Sans speaking, _"now, i might be able to hold him off a bit longer, but i think it's time for plan b."_

Undyne nodded in agreement. She could try to fight Alex, but as it currently looked, they'd need backup, or they'd just be delaying the inevitable. "I'm all for getting back up." Undyne admitted.

"AGREED." Papyrus said, doing his best to stabilize his father. Despite his proficiency with healing magic, they all knew that Gaster needed a medical doctor.

Frisk frowned for a moment, before nodding, her eyes filled with Determination. "It that's what it takes to save Alex… then let's do it!"

Alex rushed forwards towards them as he prepared to strike them down before a ripple in space and time sent his senses spinning in chaos. He was wrapped in magic as the hospital rippled and vanished beneath him. Suddenly, he heard the crunch of grass beneath his feet as he took in his new surroundings, with the others no longer in front of him.

* * *

Lynsie slipped her phone back into her pocket after she received the phone call a few moments prior. The alternate Sans had just called to confirm that they were having trouble, so they had all begun to prepare for the worst.

Out in the grassy field, with occasional patches of golden flowers, she stood with Asriel and Chara on either side of her. To her left was Chara, with mama, papa, and Captain Undyne standing a bit further over. While to her right, her brother Asriel stood, with the three skeleton brothers standing a bit further to the right. Alphys, instead, returned to the lab to continue the work needed to fix this whole mess.

If it weren't for the dire situation, Lynsie might spend some time admiring her surroundings. It was a full moon tonight, allowing them all to see fairly clearly in the moonlight. The flowers and grass looked really nice too, having just been given plenty of water from the odd storm.

The few minutes they spent waiting were agonizing. Each moment that went by since the phone call, they all grew a bit more worried about their alternates. Soon enough, they all felt the small surge of magic that occurred with a shortcut being used by several people at once.

Suddenly, standing before her in confusion, was the teenager she'd seen in the photos and camera footage. He stood, holding a beautifully crafted sword that appeared to be made of… bone? Boy, she hoped that was magic bone and not real bone, human or Monster.

Several feet behind him was the group of alternates that had gone to retrieve him. The other Doctor Gaster had a large gash across his chest as it began to bleed from whatever wound was inflicted upon him. His two sons attended to the wound that was likely caused by the human's sword. The other Undyne, too, appeared to be injured and was being attended to by the other Chara and Frisk. Seems like it didn't work out very well for them.

Speaking of the human, his sweater, near his shoulder, seemed to also have a fresh wound, with the sweater turning a blood red color at that spot. He must have been injured in that fight, but his HP remained full at 20. Overall, he didn't look TOO impressive. But… as Lynsie knew well… looks, appearances, and stats weren't everything in combat. Sans was living proof of the latter.

The new human… Alex… he began looking over Lynsie and sizing her up. He'd obviously never seen her before, and he was likely CHECKing her stats. That's fine, it wouldn't really help much due to her status as an anomaly.

Finally, she broke the silence. "Howdy, Alex." She said, trying to remain friendly and non-intimidating.

Alex narrowed his eyes at her, **"You… you're the princess, aren't you… Lynsie Dreemurr?"** He asked, surprising her.

She nodded, "That's right. How'd you-"

He smiled, **"I read about you in a pamphlet."** He stated simply, **"To what do I owe this pleasure, oh great Princess Dreemurr."** He said sickly sweet, doing a little bow before he looked up and saw everyone else.

 **"Oh boy, it's good ol' Chara and Asriel too. And there's mom and dad, hey mom and dad."** He said, doing a little innocent wave, **"And there's Undyne, Sans, Papyrus, and Gaster. Boy oh boy, the whole gang's here… except, where's your version of Frisk?"**

Prince Chara jumped in, "Somewhere safe where she's not going to get involved."

Alex frowned, **"But she's already involved."** He said, before shaking his head, **"Oh well, I can go find her when I'm done here. I'll need the XP, after all..."**

"No, you're not." Lynsie said, taking a small step forward.

Chara smirked, drawing his blade, "That's right, freak."

Asriel's paws erupted into flames as he stared down the human, "Give up now before you get hurt." The other Monsters standing by all drew their respective weapons and magic as they prepared to stop Alex.

Alex bent back a bit and let out a hearty laugh. After a moment, he wiped a tear out of his eye, **"That's rich, coming from you guys. After all…"** Alex raised his sword and pointed at the three of them, **"You're both guilty of far more than I."** He informed them, before smiling, **"And… I'm no longer afraid of genocidal maniacs such as yourselves."** Asriel's paws and Chara's hands clenched in anger at the teenager's remarks.

Lynsie shook her head, "That's enough. It's over Alex. We know this isn't who you are." She said sadly, frowning, "You're safe, Alex. No one is going to hurt you. We just want to help. Just… put down your weapon and let us." She said softly, trying to calm him down and reassure him.

Alex felt his Hatred and Fear shudder and falter a bit before it restructured itself and cemented itself back into his Soul. He smiled evilly and nodded his head, seeming to agree with himself and his conclusion, **" More lies and tricks. I know the truth."** He spoke aloud, before he turned a bit and smiled at Asriel, **"You were right all along Azzy. In this world… it's kill or be killed!"**

Alex shot a quick burst of magic at the three of them before it vanished.

"Ha, that did nothing!" Prince Chara taunted.

Alex smirked back, **"Or did it?"**

He looked around, before noticing the others were a dozen or so feet further back, as only himself, Asriel, and Lynsie remained in place before Alex. The others did a double take as they soon realized that they were all pushed away from the four of them.

Lynsie looked around in confusion for a moment before she, and the others, began to witness the color of the world fade away, leaving it monochromatic for a moment. The only things with color, now, was the magic being used. Then, without warning, the color began to slowly seep back into things. Something was definitely wrong.

Battle magic had seized control now. The rules have been changed, having morphed into a combination of both world's battle rules.

The alternates began to wonder why battle magic hadn't taken hold of them back in the hospital it this was the case now. Was it because of the FUN values? No, that couldn't be it... But wait! If the timelines were merging, perhaps this was a fusion of both sets of battle magic from both of their worlds? Maybe, since they were all from the same timeline, the rules stayed like their original, but now that there are representatives from both, both sets of rules have fused? It's possible... and likely. Alex seemed to pick up on some of this.

Alex's eyes widened in surprise and delight as a smirk came to his feet, **"Whoa, you can combat-lock here?"** He said, astonished, as the alternates looked at the four of them in alarm, **"Back in my world, anyone and everyone could join in a FIGHT… but here… this makes things a million times easier."** He said, confident and ecstatic.

The four of them were now locked into combat with one another.

And this wouldn't end until one of the two sides arose as the victor.

BATTLE START!

* * *

 ** _Author's Note:_**

 ** _As a quick note, the song used for the beginning of the conflict at the Hospital was 'Nuclear' by Mike Oldfield.  
_**

 ** _How's that for your first taste of combat. With HATE and FEAR dominating Alex's powerful Soul, his friends didn't stand too much of a chance. How do you stop a nearly unstoppable force? With a nearly immovable object… and that object… would be another powerful Anomaly._**

 ** _Can Lynsie and her brothers defeat Alex? Can he be defeated without any casualties… including Alex, himself? Can Lynsie stop this madness and save the timelines in time? And… most importantly… Can Alex be saved… from himself? Stay tuned for the battle of the century… the battle between timelines… the battle of Anomalies._**

 ** _Lynsie Vs. Alex_**

 ** _Who shall come out on top?_**

 ** _This shall hopefully be answered next time… on: UNDERTALE: Purity not Found._**


	13. Vs Alex

**Remember: Spoilers for Undertale, my story, and R.I.P Lynn's are contained within this story. **

**If you'd rather not be spoiled in any of those three ways, please stop now and go read the other stories or play the game. (It's worth it!)**

 **If you need another reminder/overview of either of our stories, please go back to chapter one or two to check them out.**

 **Thanks again to R.I.P. Lynn for making this possible.**

 **Now, time to check on everyone!**

 ***Hope you enjoy...**

* * *

 **Chapter Thirteen:** Vs. Alex

The four combatants stood mere feet from one another as they prepared for this battle. Alex gripped The Clavicle tightly in his hand as his tainted, dark grey Soul hovered before him. Like Alex, his three opponents stood with their fists clenched as well. Lynsie's Soul, currently red and filled with Determination, glowed as it hovered before her chest.

Lynsie stood in the clearing with her normal heart necklace around her neck for protection. She wore a pair of dark blue jeans, black combat boots, and a purple shirt with the delta rune upon it. She cracker her knuckles as she prepared to fight this demonic child, possessed by none-other than negative traits, themselves.

Asriel stood strong, summoning dual monochromatic swords in each hand as he stood in the clearing beside Lynsie. These swords were similar in design to the ones he used as a 'god of hyperdeath', but were much simpler and less magic-consuming to summon and use. Like her, he wore his heart locket, while also wearing a suit of regal armor. This 'Royal Armor' was his father's, Asgore's, armor in another timeline. It added to his HP, his DEF, and his ATK.

Chara stood beside Lynsie as well, glancing down at his own protective heart locket for a moment before looking at his sword. He was wearing a pair of cargo pants, with a dark green t-shirt. In his hands was a magnificently crafted crimson sword, modeled after a jian, which was a double-edged sword. Imbued with Determination, this 'Determined Blade' boosted his attributes fairly decently… but his ATK… it was synced with his Determination, making it deadlier the more Determined he became.

She eyed Alex carefully, as he did her. All around them, her friends and the alternates all sent her support despite them being locked out by the battle magic.

"you got this, lynsie." Sans called out.

"YOU CAN DO THIS!" Papyrus agreed.

"Kick his ass!" Both Undynes shouted and cheered.

"Not too hard though, please." The alternate Frisk asked quietly.

"My children, we believe in you." Queen Toriel said.

" ✋❄❄ 📪 ✡ 🕆 ✌ ❄ ✡ 🕈 👍✌ 👎 ❄ ✋💧📬" (LITTLE ONE, YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN DO THIS.)

 _"don't let your guard down."_ The other Sans warned.

 ** _"ANOMALY VS ANOMALY. WHO SHALL COME OUT VICTORIOUS?"_**

The other Chara nodded and agreed, "You can do it!"

King Asgore nodded and smiled at his adoptive daughter, "For the fate of both our worlds, you shall win, my children. You are our future."

Alex frowned as he heard the round of support for Lynsie and against him, **_"Hmph."_** He grunted, eyeing everyone around him with disgust, **"Guess I was right after all. Some 'friends' I have, eh Lynsie? Even after all they've done to me… after all I've done for them… they still root for my destruction."** He stated, before sighing and shrugging, **"Oh well… now, let's get on with it."**

The world around the pair flashed a few time, before an odd, haunting melody began to permeate the battlefield and surrounding area. The 'Battle Music' had joined into the fight, signaling its start. It sounded... familiar... To, at least, some of those present.

 _{BATTLE MUSIC: **Battle! Elite Four** (Pokemon Black and White)}_

An unnatural wind began to blow through the battlefield. It was a beautiful night out tonight. The crickets were chirping… the echo flowers were blooming… the moon was shining brightly… on nights like these, Anomalies like them… shouldn't be fighting like this.

Alex stood there, staring at Lynsie and watching her carefully. It seems like the turn-system was still in play here… to some extent, at least. It was her turn to go. She felt her connection to the Anomaly State but decided against bringing it out now. She'd save her trump card for later. For now, she might as well see what she's up against.

Guess she'll start with the classic CHECK option.

That's when shock filled her body and her brothers'. A literal, physical menu box appeared before them, like a video game. She got over her shock quickly as she moved through the menu with ease.

 **[FIGHT] *[ACT] [ITEM] [SPELL] [MERCY]**

 ***[CHECK] [REASON] [PURIFY]**

 ***Alex Dreemurr HP 20 ATK 100 ATK 200 DEF**

 ***Child of ' _ERROR: FILE NAME NOT FOUND'._**

 ** _*_ Another Anomaly. A 'SCAN' might work better.**

Lynsie frowned at that. The extra information wasn't useful but the stats gave some insight into Alex. He was wearing some sort of bracelet on his wrist, which must have increased his DEF, she presumed. And that sword… what was it called, the Clavicle? That must've raised his ATK. His HP, however, remained at the normal, untrained Human average of 20. She focused a bit more on those items equipped onto Alex. Then, the bracelet on his wrist began to glow slightly in her vision, as did the sword.

 ***Friendship Bracelet. +15 DEF**

 ***Imbued with friendship and Pure Determination.**

That's his defensive item on his wrist.

 ***The Clavicle +25 ATK +15 DEF. (More against Bone Magic)**

 ***A Bone Sword made from Papyrus' Magic. It's pretty cool!**

That didn't explain his odd stats, however. His stats should've been HP 20, ATK 35, and DEF 40, with his items taken into account. Instead, they were all much higher yet his LV and XP remained at one and zero, respectively. What could've increased his stats so far? Was the darkness, HATE, and FEAR buffing him? That's possible, considering there was a faint, dark aura around the equipped items, matching the shade of his Soul.

Alex smirked and gripped his sword tightly with both of his hands. Lynsie didn't need to see Alex's menu to know what option he selected.

Alex dashed forwards toward his opponents at breakneck speed, arcing his swing of the blade so that he'd get a chance to hit the three opponents all on the same swing. Asriel slid out of the way with ease, as Lynsie jumped forward and rolled under the blade. Chara, instead, parried the blade with his own and clashed with Alex, blade-on-blade.

Chara smirked as he had the upper hand. He used his superior stats and strength to kick Alex in the Chest sending him sliding a few feet back, re-breaking a few ribs. Alex snarled as he tightened the grip on his blade as he coughed up blood once. His lost HP, however, came back almost immediately.

 ***HP MAXED OUT**

 ***DEF has decreased.**

From his current location, he swung the blade again, despite being far away and out of striking range. That's when the aura around the blade darkened, becoming bolder and more pronounced. A wave of darkness flew at the three of them, as Asriel used his own two blades, filled to the brim with his fire magic, to melt and burn away the wave before it reached them, turning it into a wave of harmless smoke, obscuring their vision of their enemy.

They heard maniacal laughter echoing in the cloud. They were unable to pinpoint Alex's current location. Suddenly, Chara shouted out in pain as a gash appeared on his left arm, caused by Alex using the smoke cover to strike at Chara. Despite his high combined DEF of 120, the blade nearly cut down to the bone near his shoulder, causing it to bleed as his HP dropped.

 ***Chara. HP 80/100**

Not a deadly blow, but a horrible reminder that Alex would not be an easy win for them. Asriel threw a wave of fireballs at Alex, forcing him away from his brother as he retreated back into the smoke.

Asriel used this opportunity to dash over to Chara defending him as he grabbed a healing item. He pulled out a cup of golden flower tea in a thermos, giving it to Chara to drink quickly. It was still hot, but damn was it good.

 ***HP Maxed out.**

Although his HP was maxed out, the injury would require more healing to fully repair the damage, but it was now usable for the time being.

With the two brothers distracted, Alex dashed at Lynsie through the smoke, hoping to catch her off-guard too. She hadn't yet thrown a blow his way. She'd likely make an easy target, he thought to himself.

However, Lynsie concentrated on the tugs of her Soul, getting a read on the battlefield around her. She saw Alex's Soul in the cloud of debris, giving her a quick heads-up before he charged out after her.

She held her fists together in front of her, before splitting them apart with a magical bone staff forming between her hands. With the weapon summoned swiftly, she held it out perfectly, causing Alex to strike the bone, rather than her. However, with the added bonus to Bone Magic on the Clavicle, Alex pushed a bit harder and broke the summoned defensive weapon, but not before sending her stumbling, off-balance.

He swung quickly at her in an attempt to slash her visible Soul, but he missed. However, on pure instinct alone, he reached his hand out in an attempt to grab her Soul and possibly crush it in his hand. Lynsie saw this and jumped back to avoid that fate, but Alex's hand had just grazed her Anomalous Soul.

Suddenly, a bright flash blinded the four of them and the bystanders for a moment, before it faded. Alex's dark aura flared higher and brighter as power flowed through him. He looked down at his Soul for a moment before smirking at the feeling of power surging through him.

Lynsie and her brothers looked on in shock as physical ones and zeros began to manifest around them. It was almost like Lynsie's vision with the Anomaly State, where she'd see everything in various colors of ones and zeros, except the normal vision remained and only a few 1s and 0s appeared. Nonetheless, this was not good. Everyone else saw them as well.

" ✋❄❄ 📪 ❄ 👌✌❄❄ ✋ 👎 ✌ 🕆 👎 ✡ 🕆 ✋💧 👎 ❄ ✋ ✌❄✋ 🕈✋❄ ❄🕈 ✌ 💣✌ ✋ 💧 🏱 💧 ❄📬 ❄ ✌❄ 😐✋ 👎 👍 👍 ❄ ✌❄ 👎 🏱 🕈 📬📬📬 🕈✋❄ ❄ ❄✋💣 ✋ ✋ ❄ 💧❄✌❄ ✋❄ 👍🕆 ❄ ✡ ✋💧📬📬📬 ❄ ✋💧 👍 🕆 👎 💧🏱 👎✋💧✌💧❄ ✏" (LITTLE ONE, THE BATTLEFIELD AROUND YOU IS DETERIORATING WITH TWO ANOMALIES PRESENT. THAT KIND OF CONCENTRATED POWER... WITH THE TIMELINE IN THE STATE IT CURRENTLY IS... THIS COULD SPELL DISASTER!)

 ***Alex's Stats increased greatly.**

The four of them heard the foreign Gaster shout at them, **_"HIS SOUL IS PURITY, PRINCESS! DO NOT LET HIM ABSORB ANYTHING FROM YOUR SOUL. IT'LL ONLY MAKE HIM STRONGER, TAKING ON SOME OF THE POWER OF YOUR OWN SOUL AS HIS OWN."_**

She nodded, putting a small bubble of shield magic around her Soul to try to prevent that from happening once more. Chara, now fully healed, reappeared by Lynsie's side, as did Asriel.

Alex stood several feet away, taking a few deep breaths as he tried to get used to this power. **"This… this is the power of this world's Anomaly?"** He asked, smiling and out of breath, **"This… this is incredible… I… I want MORE!"** He exclaimed as his eyes grew darker.

"We've got your back, Lynsie." Chara said, steadying his blade.

Asriel did the same with both of his, "Together, we can do anything."

"Thanks, brothers." She said with a smile, as she formed a medieval shield on one arm forged from her Determination, while summoning a red, magical blade in her other.

As the menu reappeared, she knew reasoning wasn't going to work here, but 'PURIFY' caught her curiosity. She remembered what the others had mentioned about it. Being able to remove possessions or foreign traits and magic. Could it free Alex? Only one way to find out!

 ***The Code is shuddering and splintering.**

 **[FIGHT] *[ACT] [ITEM] [SPELL] [MERCY]**

 **[CHECK] [REASON] *[PURIFY]**

 ***** **Y͜o̶͞ų̛ fe̕̕e͜l̢̕ ͏̢Pưr͝i͘͠t̨͠y ̶̀b̶҉u͡͞i̴l̴d͏҉͢i̕͢n̡̛g̡̧ ҉͘͟up̸͠ ̀͠͡ins̢i̕͘d̢e͝͠ ̴̢͝of ̶ỳ̛͢o͘u̷,̀̕ ͞ç̕o̡n̶͢c̵͏e͘n̢t̵̛r͏atí̀n̸͏͜ǵ ͞wi̢͞͏th̴̕i̛n ̴y̨͘͜o̢u̷͢͠r͏ ́҉S̕ou̴l̴̡͟.́͞**

 ***** **̀̕͡E͝R̡R̴͞O҉̴͞Ŕ͠:̛͝ ͞P͏U̷͜R̡͜I͘TY͠ NOT̵ ̧̕͟FÒ͝U̡̕N͞D̴͟.̸̵͏ ̷̢C͜͡ÓR͏̕R̴̵U͏͘P͟TI̶͘͝O͟͞N͏ ̛͞D̶E̴T͏͘E̕͏C̀̕͜T҉͢͝ÈD̢̡͘.̷̧̕ ̡C͏͘͠A͏̕Ų̛TI͞͏O͘N̸̢ ͘̕͡A̛DV̡́IS͜E҉̶͜D͡!̷͜͞**

Lynsie's eyes widened at the glitched display. It sounded like she'd be unable to use such an option as she currently was. The displayed error-ridden message was nothing more than a glitched display. Perhaps she needed access to the trait of Purity? But that'd take a SCAN in order to get that data.

Alex let out a laugh as he saw the error message pop up.

 **"My turn~"** He said, before he swapped his sword to his left hand as he outstretched his right one towards them.

On command, a blast of magic fired at the three of them, but Lynsie acted quickly, putting up a green shield to protect herself and her brothers as her Soul turned green, filled with Kindness.

The blast hit the shield and scattered in every-which direction and even partially reflected back at Alex, leaving the three of them unharmed as Alex dove out of the way to avoid the backlash of the blast. Unfortunately for him, it grazed his back as he dove for the ground, lowering his HP a bit.

 ***ALEX. 18/20 HP**

Alex took a deep breath as he returned to his feet. Darkness from his Soul crept around him and sealed the wound in his back, allowing him to regain his strength.

 ***HP Maxed Out.**

 ***DEF has decreased.**

This time, Asriel wasted no time with his attacks, as he sent fireball after fireball at Alex, forcing him to constantly move and dodge the blows. Chara, too, swung his blade in attack, sending waves of red magic towards Alex, catching his legs and tripping him up.

Alex falls down, losing a few HP, as brings up a wall of darkness between himself and his opponents, shielding himself from both attacks and view. He chuckled darkly.

 **"Three on one? Now, that's not very fair, is it?"** He asked, **"Whatever happened to fighting fairly, guys?"**

Chara narrowed his eyes in Alex's general direction, "Fighting 'fairly' went out the window when you appeared with six defeated fighters." He spat at Alex.

 **"C'mon, they weren't real fighters…"** He said, **"They had no intent to hurt me… but you two… Asriel and Chara… I can feel the anger and hatred within you. It gives me strength… Your power… your Determination… what good are those against an Anomaly?"** He asked rhetorically.

Lynsie shook her head, "You're just trying to get into their heads. Make them afraid of you."

 **"Oh? And they aren't afraid of YOU?"** He asked menacingly, his voice echoing around them, **"Tell me, Asriel and Chara, who can 'RESET' now in this timeline? Is it good old Frisk… or is it your 'sister'?"** He questioned, trying to seed doubts into their Souls.

"The RESETs are over, Alex!" Lynsie shouted, "And even if I could, I'd never consider doing it!"

Chara nodded, "That's right. Lynsie wouldn't take this away from any of us, including herself."

"She's not like you think, Alex." Asriel said, agreeing, "She's selfless, kind, and ready to help others at any point!"

Lynsie blushed slightly at their praise. "Thanks, brothers." They both smiled and nodded to her.

Alex chuckled, **"Is that so? Hmmm… alright then… guess it's time to keep going."**

On command, the wall of physical blackness slid toward them with the intent of crushing the three of them, but that wouldn't be happening today. Together, the three of them sent a multicolored beam of heat and flames at the wall, shattering it with ease.

Out of the cloud of dust emerged Alex, who swiped at Chara. He deflected it with ease, before swinging at Alex in return. Alex slid and bent backward under the swing as he used the momentum of his attack to swing towards Asriel, who also parried the strike with both of his swords.

Lynsie summoned a sword of her own during this time, and slammed the flat of the blade against Alex's chest and Soul, sending him sliding backward on his face, shaving off even more HP. She preferred more long-range weaponry, but the sword worked well for the given situation.

He stood back up, clutching his left shoulder with his right arm as blood started to re-soak the sweater. He had scrapes and bruises on his face as well. However, his face was not contorted in pain, rather he was smiling, **"Wow… an actual challenge…"** He taunted, **"This'll be fun!"** The darkness from his Soul crept over his being, healing his wounds and lowering his DEF even more.

This time, let's try a spell.

 ***Fear and Hatred threaten to overtake the field.**

 **[FIGHT] [ACT] [ITEM] *[SPELL] [MERCY]**

 ***The SPELL option is glitchy and buggy, but still usable.**

Lynsie concentrated on her Soul and her power before it began to swirl and strengthen. Suddenly, the magic manifested before her, forming into the shape of a Gaster Blaster. She smirked at her success.

"About damn time." She said with a smirk, as Alex's face pales slightly.

Chara turned to Lynsie, "Hey sis, does that thing have KARMA?"

"Only one way to find out, eh sister?" Asriel asked, smiling as well.

She nodded, putting her hand forward and clenching it into a fist as it sent a well-aims blast at Alex. He rolled to the side just in time as the blaster left a crater in his previous location, singing the blades of grass and flowers around the crater. **"Dammit."** Alex muttered under his breath as he dashed forward, dodging more blasts from the cannon.

She continued firing the blaster in an attempt to either weaken Alex or keep him moving. Alex dashed straight for her, but she was ready. She moved the blaster at incredible speeds, putting it between herself and Alex as a protective shield. Made of bone or not, it was thick enough to halt Alex's advance as he quickly formed a new strategy.

Before a new idea came to his head, the blaster bucked forward wildly, sending Alex hurtling through the air backward. However, before he hit the ground far away, he summoned a wall of magic behind him to halt his trajectory safely. He slid down the wall, narrowly missing a KARMA infused blast from Lynsie's weapon.

Alex landed on his feet, before taking off once more, this time in an arc, avoiding blaster fire as he ran, but that's when Lynn's two brothers jumped into the attack. Chara began to swing his sword violently, creating dozens of red slashes of magic in the air, that all flew toward Alex quickly.

Asriel summoned vast amounts fireballs, as he threw them into the sky, to rain down upon Alex, forcing him to keep moving. Alex tried swiftly to dodge the combination of raining fire, blaster fire, and arcs of blood red magic.

It was too much for him, as he was struck once too many times by Chara's attacks, causing him to trip up and be struck by a large cluster of fireballs. His HP was cut in half as it fell to ten.

 ***Alex 10/20 HP**

Alex felt the darkness rush over his body, covering and healing his wounds as his HP prepared to shoot back up to twenty. But that was when he made the mistake of not focusing on Lynsie. The Gaster Blaster hit its mark, setting Alex ablaze with purple flames as his healed wounds reopened. His HP drained at an incredible rate still, as the beam of energy died down.

Within seconds, it ate all the way to one.

 ***Alex 1/20 HP**

Alex's body began to waver as he felt his legs go weak. The Hatred and Fear in his Soul wasted no time washing back over him as the purple flames of KARMA died down. However, the damage was extensive, causing his DEF to plummet.

 ***HP Maxed out.**

 ***DEF has drastically decreased.**

Another check on Alex's stats confirmed that his DEF, having started at a high 200, was now down to 100. Perhaps the buff from touching her Soul increased his DEF higher than 200, but that KARMA… it ate through his DEF like it was nothing.

Alex stood back up as the assault on him had ended. The bloodlust in his eye had now only grown larger. Lynsie stood with the Gaster Blaster directly above her, watching Alex carefully. As much as she'd rather not hurt the enemy, she still had a job to do. She'd do her best to defeat Alex without killing, but weakening him was definitely not off of the table.

Suddenly, it seemed like Alex got an idea.

He smirked, **"I've always wanted to try this one…"** He said, holding out both of his hands towards the three of them, **"And now that I've got FEAR on my side…"**

 _"get out of the way!"_ The alternate Sans shouted, as two quick beams of magenta magic slammed into Chara's and Asriel's Souls, dealing no damage, which surprised them.

"What the fuck was that?" Chara asked before he felt his knees go weak and a look of terror began to overtake his normally serious face. The same happened to Asriel as both of their irises turned hot pink. The two of them fell to their knees as the FEAR seeped deep into their Souls.

Lynsie looked at her brothers in horror, "What the-" She asked, bringing a hand to her mouth as she saw them with their terrified expressions.

 ** _"PRINCESS, HE SHOT THEM WITH CONCENTRATED FEAR. THEY ARE BEING FORCED INTO ONE OF THEIR WORST NIGHTMARES!"_** The alternate Gaster informed her, as Alex felt his own legs almost give out.

 **"D-damn… no wonder Betty didn't keep doing it."** He muttered as pure black substance flooded over Alex's body, further plummeting his already lower DEF as his stamina slowly returned to him.

"What do I do?" She shouted with haste, turning towards the alternates.

 _"without purity, there's only one way to conquer fear."_

"BE DETERMINED, PRINCESS!" The alternate Papyrus shouted.

Her Sans nodded, "yes, the only thing that can defeat fear is determination."

"GO LYNSIE!"

Lynsie sprung into action as she felt Determination flood her senses. Knowing that it was up to her to pull her brothers from their inner darkness and nightmares… it…

 ***You're filled with Determination!**

Her Soul began to burn hot red as the green retreated from her sight. She ran to Chara first, holding him tightly as she sent some of her Determination into his now-dull Soul. After a moment, it pulsed and began to glow strongly, before the pink was pulled from his eyes and he regained his composure.

"H-Holy sh-shit that was terrifying." He said, grabbing Lynsie's outstretched arm as he was helped to his feet. "Azzy!" He shouted, realizing he was still stuck in a nightmare of his own too.

Lynsie nodded, Determined, "Use your Determination. Free him! I'll hold off Alex."

Chara frowned, but nodded in agreement, "Just… be careful sis…" He said quietly, "He's dangerous…"

She smiled back confidently at her brother, "Don't worry, I still have my trump card."

He nodded, "Good luck." He said, before rushing over to his brother to free him from his nightmares.

Lynsie straightened her posture and pulled the Gaster Blaster closer to her, to her side. Alex eyed her carefully as he held his sword in his right, dominant hand.

He shook his head, **"Wow, FEAR's a lot more dangerous than I originally thought…"**

Lynsie summoned her red sword once more and extended it towards Alex, "Alex, I know you're still in there. Fight this darkness. Resist it!"

He shook his head, **"Sorry lady, but this is the real me! The one I kept locked up all nice and tight."** He said, smiling for a moment before shrugging, **"But seeing as I'm generous AND that you've temporarily lost your two accomplices, I'll let you make your next move… don't say I never did anything for ya…"** He said, chuckling.

Lynsie nodded and flashed a smile nonetheless, "Thanks, pal. I appreciate it." She said, doing her best to coat her sarcastic remark with pseudo-sincerity. This caught Alex off-guard, giving Lynsie a bit more time as she concentrated on the options before her.

 **[FIGHT] [ACT] [ITEM] *[SPELL] [MERCY]**

She focused on her magic as it surged within her, ready to come to life in any form she chose. She smiled to herself and nodded as the pure energy appeared before her, swirling into its desired form.

Floating before her now was a glowing red trident, expertly crafted and identical to her father's own weapon. He looked on at his adopted daughter with pride as she gripped the weapon tightly. Her smile grew a bit wider as she moved her feet further apart. She was ready for Alex's next move, and she knew a close-range weapon would be more useful at the moment.

This weapon, similar in style to her father's, was not nearly as powerful or durable as the real deal. Magically formed weapons, you see, take a lot of magic to summon and maintain, and are easily destroyed if the user loses the will and focus to maintain it, or if the strain on the weapon exceeds the user's strength.

With Alex's attention focused on her, Chara began working to awaken his brother. Alex narrowed his eyes as darkness appeared under his feet, propelling him forward towards his victim.

He swiped at her as soon as he was within range, which she parried away with the long hilt of the trident. It caused his blade to parry to the side, and he used this momentum to swing it back down for another attempted blow.

Once more, he swung at her, but the other Anomaly anticipated this move. She caught his blade between two points of the trident, causing Alex's eyes to widen in alarm. Internally, she apologized to the alternate Papyrus… and all of the skeletons present…

She viciously twisted the trident and spun it in her grasp.

 **SNAP**

The sickening sound of bone breaking and snapping in two echoed across the battlefield as the blade of the sword snapped into shards of magical bone, before dissolving into magical dust, carried away by the wind. Each skeleton present felt their non-existent stomachs churn with disgust.

Alex's eyes widened with a mix of emotions washing over his expression. First, shock. Then, anger. Now… HATRED.

 **"M-My w-weapon…"** He said quietly in shock before darkness completely consumed his Soul as his aura flared violently, **"HOW FUCKING DARE YOU?!"** He said, enraged. Surprising Lynsie, he gripped the trident and sent his HATRED into the weapon, turning it black before dissolving it before her eyes.

She released the weapon before it fully broke down. As the dark particles of the former trident fell they began to swirl around before darting to Alex's hands as it formed another, similarly styled blade. He was so used to using such a weapon, that he hadn't grown accustomed to fighting without one.

He slashed at her with his new weapon, which she dodged by pushing them both apart with blue magic. Now apart, Alex pointed the blade of darkness at Lynsie as he snarled at her.

 **"You've just made this personal, bitch! No MERCY!"**

By now, the turn should've been her's once more, but Alex wasn't quite done yet.

He ran at her with pure killing intent in his dark eyes, swinging his blade madly at her, trying to land some sort of blow on his enemy. She, however, moved quickly, dodging left and right, ducking and sliding under the blade as she got behind him.

However, he moved too quickly for her, as he spun around and slashed at her back, creating a clean gash through her shirt and her skin. The back of her purple shirt began rapidly changing to red as her HP fell. The killing intent behind the blow was higher than she first anticipated.

 ***Lynsie 75/100 HP.**

Damn, that was a hard hit.

"My child!" Toriel cried out upon watching Lynsie take the blow.

"lynn!"

"LYNSIE!"

"SIS!" Her brothers yelled.

Lynsie grunted as she bit back her pain, doing her best to not cry out. She turned to face Alex as he smiled manically at her. **"What's wrong, princess?"** He said, taunting her.

He dashed at her once more in an attempt to end this fight, but she used her currently blue Soul to push him back. However, the strain of using this magic with her injury caused her legs to momentarily give out, sending her to her knees.

Despite being pushed away, Alex grinned as he gripped the black energy blade in his hands, **"I told you, no mercy. Before… I considered making this painless, but now… you'll suffer!"**

At this rate, she wasn't going to be getting anywhere anytime soon. If she wanted to stop Alex and save the timelines in time, she'd need to use her trump card. At this point, it was now or never, especially with both of her brothers out of commission at the moment. She took a deep breath and focused on her Soul.

She closed her eyes and concentrated, speaking under her breath to herself as she steadied herself by planting both hands on the ground in front of her, "Okay Lynsie… you can do this… I can do this… Just like before… alright… c'mon… Anomaly State, here I come… Do it… do it… DO IT… yes!"

Her burning blue Soul blinked back to red before it flashed brighter as all of the other Soul colors sprang forth and mixed together within her Soul. They mixed and swirled in a whirlpool of emotional power and overpowering magic.

She opened her eyes and looked up towards Alex, revealing them to be nearly perfectly white and glowing, with the exception of her glowing red irises. They remained red, filled with Determination as she looked at her opponent and climbed to her feet.

[Anomaly State: ONLINE.]

The power and magic flowed through her veins and entire being, making her skin tingle, heightening her senses, and changing her vision to colored ones and zeros in the shapes of the things they represented. Their 'Code' was visible without a filter to her now. It was just like the matrix movies, except even cooler!

She smirked at Alex, unnerving him with her current, intimidating appearance, ͢"Gu̢es҉s̢ y͟ou'͠re i͘n ̧fo̷r ̷a b̕ad t͟ime ͟n͟ow̛,͡ ki̕dd̶o̶.̶"͢

She spoke, doing her best to intimidate him again. Anything she could do to make his will to fight falter and dissolve…

The music began to fold and bend as it shifted into something a little different. The timeline was reaching its limit.

 ***The True Battle has begun.**

* * *

 _{BATTLE MUSIC: **Shadow Queen part 2** (Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door)}_

The already-existing zeros and ones caused by the timeline code deterioration by the fight increased dramatically in both frequency and quantity. Her Anomaly State against this alternate, corrupted anomaly was pushing the already weak timeline to its limits.

She focused on Alex's Code before her, his mass of ones and zeros appearing odd to her, much like those of the alternates… except his was filled with unknown errors. She could see the physical aura of darkness around him, making her almost involuntarily shiver.

She focused on his Soul from afar… his code… and began to SCAN him.

"҉Co͞mm͞enc̷i̵ng ̛d͟ata͜ ͟s͞ca̛n҉.͠"̷  
̶  
"͜H̛um̨a̕n͏o͜m͠a̡ly.͝ ̛File͠ ͞name:̸ Err̵or:̨ Fil̢e ̧na̡m͜e n̨oţ F̢ou̡n̕d.̡"͞  
͜  
́"͞CRI͢T́IC̸AL ER̨RO͞R̀: Pa͠r̸ado̢xi͞cal a̶n̢d n͜o̴n-e͘xi͢śten̕t Fi̢le ̵de̷t̢e͢ct̛ęd̨. Ço͟re ̡C͢o͠de ̧un̨r͏ećog̡niza̕ble. ̸"

҉"̵P͠o͝w͏erin͏g d͠own̡. Cra̴sh͠ ͞i̧mmi̕ne̵nt." ̷

The entire audience gasped at the critical error. That didn't sound good. And if her Anomaly State, her trump card, was going to shut down, then this would make matters much worse. Alex, however, was still shocked by this turn of events.

́"̕N͟-No͝...͝ ̸I̢ ͢need to ̷sc͞an him͘.̢.̷.͡"̴ She said to herself, knowing that she couldn't allow her power to deactivate. She forced herself to look deeper into his Core File. The result caused her voice to glitch even further.

"͉̺̳̀͋͒C̵̏̓͒ͤ̈̽͒-͙̫̫̯̗̯̑C̴͔͗͂ͣ̇ơ͕̫̮̺̏̅̔m̱̞̩̬͖̘ͤ̾ͨ̄ṃ̤͆̄ͭ̑̂e̘̲͆́n̲̲̫͉͔̉͗͡c͂̔ͪͬͪ҉͇ḭ͕̩̲͍̹̹̇̓̓͊ͬͥ͡n̔͊͏̗g̹̱͛ͮ̊ ̨̒͗D̰̪̪͍̪̈́̋̆̊͛ͮ͘ͅạ̍̊̔̏̀ť̬̙̳̥̩͍̥̑͊͡a̛̗̹͓̪̘͛͆̈́͐ͤͧͬ ̶̲͔̒͊ͧ͂̏ͣS͇̱̃ͯ̄̒͟c̾͗̊ͤ͏̯̼̖̟̯͚ͅȁ̴͙̯ñ.̯̭̗̫̟̮͍̔̌̕.̗ͥ̀̋ͤͤͦ.̡͈̯̪̬͖̩ͯͬ̔"̼͇̱͉̑̌  
͓̪̝̯̹͙̐͐̈̈ͯ̊̈́  
ͥ҉̜̹͎"̜ͅH̸͍̺͑u̷̪̱̾̄ͩͦ̓ͦͨm̈́̃̒̓̒͏̠̞͖̺a͍͎̟n̖̬̻̯̠͎̏ͪ͆ͨͫ̏/̋̄ͩ̈͐҉̹̳̞Ā̤̜̥̝̹n͙͍̰͓̥̠̪̋͝o͙̗͍͎͊͊͟m̻̳̙̥̠̜̭a͔̗̥̙̲̲̲̓͂̎͆͂͒͢lỷ̞̝͔͔̻̘̀.͔̜̅̋ͯ͌͋ ̜̜̱̬ͦ͌̀̾̉ͬ̚ͅF͖̼͕̹͍̿̈̒̓ͭ͆̚ͅi͙͇̥̦ͩ̅͆͑ͤ̈̀̚l̷͎͕̥̝̦̓ͥe̱̹̱̗̓ ̈́́̒ͪ̉͆̈́҉̮͍͔̩̻̲N͖̖̞͈͖̘̂̈́͑̐̐̂̇ͅå͔̱͕̝̞̺m̧̞̰̖ͅȩ̖:̧͙̗̲̱͓ ̘̹̱͑̈́̏̎́A̧̩̫͖̘̲ͅl̃̐̋ḕ̳̬̼̃́̆̉̅̀ͅẍ̲͇́ ͉ͩ͌̃͑̇̋͆̕D̮̞͚͍̠̻́rͬ̑̎ͪ͞e̘̻̩̹̞͍͆ͫ̓ẻ̠̟̣͍̳̝̲̿̊ͦͫ͐ͥ́m̷͖̪̱̩ͦͪͭͨ̌̐̍ṷ̷͍̭̦ͪͤ̈́r̗͇̝̠ͮͯ̅̊r̹̫̭͚̤̮̂̆̿̎̌̀͝"̮͝  
̙̲̫̭͚̺̓̆ͪͮ̇͋  
̶̗͈͑͐̓ͅ"̯̜̼͓E͚̹̼̙͈Ṙ̼͓̘̍̓̀R̖͈̞̖̜͖̠Ő̺̱͍Ṙ̠ͥͮ:̡̼͇͎͔̜̯̫ͬ̇̊̉̅ ̦̦̳̩͈̄͊̊̾͢F̮̪̝͕͈̖̳̽ͦ̆͜Ī̢̹̇̉̐L̵͙̭̖͙ͅE͖̯͇̮̽̈͢ ̱̫͍̤̳̰̎̒͝Ĩ̸͇͚̻̹̦͊̐ͤ̈́̊́S̖̟̮̆͗̏ͮ̋̍̐͠ ̡̮͖͓͓̰̻̠̋̃̍C͔̈́ͯ̎̾ͩO̵̓R̖̗̤̻̫͂ͩ̉R̛̩Ü͖̥͕̥ͧ͒̐͢P̬̖͉T̡͇͖̥̆ͅ.̮̦̬"͙̣͕ͦͮ

̦̟̻̞͓̫͔̐̃̾ͣ͌ͮ̓"̨̫̆̓̐͆̊N͒̇̾̋͏͍̪̩̺̹̻̣-̵͓̥̭͙̞͊͐ͯ̽̈ͮn̂o̧͇̩̻͖̫ͯͯ̉͒,͎̯͑̈́ ̡̱͉͔̞̭̋̏̋ͧ̊̍ͅS̵̻̊̿̃ͤ-͍̗͖̬̰̣̥̐͐́S̵͙̼̙C͏̫̟͈̱Ḁ̦̝̣̱̍̓̂͢N̙͙͙ͭ̏͊ͦͪ̀̒ ͈̋͡f̹̳u͋͋ͯ̅̑͑͢r̘̋̆̚t͔̤͉̤̘̄̄ͬ͒h̢̳̮̩͍̍ͥ̈́̀͑̒e͏r̈̎͐̇̇̚!̰̬̪̗͓ͤ̃̂̂ͦ̇̃"̪̗͞ She demaned, forcing herself to continue against the Anomaly State's recommendations.  
̝́̽ͬ̎̒  
̛͐̇ͬ̾̅ͣ"̧̬͈̝̥̤̌̄̅͛Ë̳̘͗̽̓̈́͐R͕̯͚̖̬ͫ̃̈́̎̓̏̚R̠̜͖̝̳̙̱ͫ̀̋͒ͮͯͩȎ̠̩̭͈͕̦ͤ̆ͮ͛ͮ̊̀ͅR̜̱̕:̦̞͈̙̣ͩͪ̃͛̆ ͍ͧͤ̃E̡̺Ẍ̻̂̋T̺͠Ṛ͊E̓ͥͮMͤ̉́͒͒̉͏̗̺͕̝E̢̞̯̭̜ ̱̺̃ͦ̔̀L͙͙̖̲͆͆̀E̠̱V̩̝̞̗͍̜͒̓̐ͯͫ̈́Ȇ̳̖̞L̛̉̇̑͑S̝̝̦̥̫̑ͭͯ̍ ̴͕̖̺ͅỌ̡͕̰̇̓ͨF̣̳̫̼̼̘̳̄͒͊͗̊͆ͥ͢ ̻̙̮̿̌͂̂ͤR̨̫̝̠͓͉ͅE̲̦̍ͦ̄͒͑͒ͧL̐͋ͮ̊̎͆̒͏̮͓̳̙͕̲̥E͇̿̓̇̎̓ͯN͍̘̒̊́͊̈́̚T̟̦͚́L̲͖͇̣͈͎ͧ̑̂͒̀E̺̞̟̭͊Ṡ̊S̢͋͒͆Ṋ͙̮̘͇̜É̱S͔̥͉͉͍̏͐̚ͅS̖ͩ̒ͤ͗͗ ̽A̲̘͌̾ͣͣ̓̉͜N̝̲̲̗̜ͭ́ͪ̍͘D͚͚͂̓̅ ̤͍͎͈͉͞D̷̔͆̽A̫͍̜͎͕̠̪ͤ̂̿̃͜R̡̪K̒ͬ̽̎͂̓̓҉̰̤̦N̞̺̥̥̰͎͜E͈S̨͙͖̯͖̼͖͒ͮS̎̒̾̃ ͋ͥ̿͆̉͢D̼͌̊̍̐́̓͌͡È̶͈͚͎̪̖̳ͥ͌̑̃T͓̮̮̤̺̣̔̏̓͂ͥͣ̅ͅE͕͍̪̽͋C̸͓͚̼͑̊̓ͅT̞̞ͪ̌͡E̯̪̺̙̼̹̾͘D͓̠̙̞͋ͮͯ͋ͅ.̀ͪͩ͛̔͆ͤ͢ ̵̲̓̈́̒T͕̜̺̲̻̤͘HR̴͙̖͋Ȩ̗Ȃ͔͇̹̤̥̻̬ͦT̵̝̘͍ ̦͆̇ͪ̄ͨ͂L̪̗͛͝E͚͓̦̥̘͗V̹ͩ̏͆̈ͭ̏̋͘Ȩ͇̻̦͈̉L͇̂͂̑͟:̱̬͖ͦ̅͐ͦ ͮ҉̣̬͚͖H̽̃ͪ̒͒ͦ͌I̹̯͒͡Ġ̼ͬ̅͌ͤͦ́Hͣͥ̿.̦̦̥̘"͖͇̐

 _[Warning! Anomaly Core instability detected. Extreme Threat detected. SAFE MODE activated until instability is corrected or the threat is neutralized]_

Her eyes widened as she felt SAFE MODE activate and prevent a full crash.

For some reason, Alex had the audacity to smile, **"Sounds like you're having some problems with your power, princess."** He taunted, **"But don't worry, I'm sure I won't have those problems once I get that power."** He said, before dashing forwards toward his opponent.

Right before he struck her, he clashed against some sort of blade. He looked down in shock to see she had summoned a red, ghostly version of his sword, parrying his strike easily.

They held their bone blades against one another as they met eye-to-eye. Both seemed surprised by the speed Lynsie had just used to defend herself. **"What the hell are you?!"** Alex asked, fear evident in his eyes.

She SO wanted to say, 'I'm the Juggernaut, bitch!', but prevented herself from saying so. Instead, she simply smiled, "W͢hy,͡ I'̕m̴ j͢ust ̸like y̡óu̸, A͟l͝e̶x̧. ̨An̴ A͞n̛oḿaĺy̵ t̵ha̶t̨ do̸es̶n't͠ b́elo͝ng ҉a̧n̷ywhe̡re…͝ ͜y͟et͜ ͢f͏ound a͟ h̀om̡e͘ he̴r͜e, w̴itḩ my fa̶mi̸l͟y͠."̛

Something about what she said sent a ping of pain through his heart as the darkness' grip loosened on Alex's Soul. Lynsie used this moment of confusion to her advantage, as she kicked Alex back and summoned some Undyne-esque spears, except they were red and filled with Determination.

However, something about the way the red spears flying at Alex caused a resurgence of Hatred and Fear. His vision swapped to a flashback in a version of Waterfall, where blood-red spears and bones were sent hurtling at him with the intent to kill mercilessly. That was the first time he discovered the power that HATE held. And now… that scene filled him with even more, as he dove, spun, and slid to avoid the onslaught.

Seeing an opening and taking it, Alex shot a blast from his Soul, which hit Lynsie directly in the chest, just barely missing her Soul, and sending her stumbling back a little. Her HP dropped a bit from the unexpected strike.

 ***Lynsie 70/100 HP**

She shook off the pain and held her new magically-generated blade tightly in her hands. She looked over Alex carefully and watched his 'data', focusing especially on his Soul. She could make out four different bits of code in his Soul. One was easily identifiable, which was RELENTLESSNESS. Her Anomaly State had just mentioned that it sensed it, but it was the second lowest present code there.

The other three must've been the other traits. What were they again? FEAR, HATE, and PURITY? Yeah, that sounds right. If she could scan those traits, get them incorporated into her own code and at her disposal, then she could, perhaps, use them against Alex. That seemed like a good idea, and she was the only one who could do it.

She focused on one of the bits of code as Alex stood there for a moment, before realizing what she was doing. He dashed forwards towards her as she began to speak.

"̸Commen͠ci҉ng F͡o̷ŗieg̛n͡ ͘C͡ode͘ ̸S͟ca̸n͏.̀"

̢"Co͞d҉e͜ F̴o͘u̶nd.̷ ͏Co͝mpári͘ng ͠to ̶d͞a̷t̸a archi̵ves̡.҉"

He leaped forward and slashed at her Soul directly once more, but she swiftly moved to the side, dodging the swing. Alex swung again, this time at her legs, to which she jumped. Finally, Alex slashed at her neck, but she ducked, just as he'd expected. This time, instead of dodging fully, Alex used his free hand to uppercut the adult woman as best as he could.

Due to the killing intent behind the blow and solid hit on Lynsie, she stumbled back and lost more HP as the comparison completed.

"̕Dat̨a̶ S̕ca̛n̸ com̵p̧l͢et̨ed̕. F͝i͡ļe d̛e͏s̸igńa͠t͏iòn:̨ ̴HA͡T́RED.̧" She said as she stumbled back.

 ***Lynsie 65/100**

"W͘A̶RN͘IN͟Ģ:҉ ͞THR̛EA͠T L̕E̶V͟EL͏ ͝ḨA̢S E̸SC̸AL̀AT̛E̴D́ ͠D͜U͝E T̕O ̢PRE͞S͞ĘN̴C̛E ͞OF͡ ̵HAŢE."͘

Alex's eyes widened as she said this. She had now 'scanned' his hatred? That couldn't possibly be good for him.

She nodded and smirked, ͝"H̨atè, hu̴h?͏̨ She began, nodding. "Now...̛ now I͜ und͢e͘rs̛tan̶d̛ ̕t͡h̴e ̢r͟a͢ẃ ̵p̀owe͠r you ͢wer̴e҉ ͜talk͠i̷n͡g͜ abo͝ųt, Alex͞.̶ ͞I҉t'͏s ̨e͞x̡hi҉larating͝.͢.̨.̴ ̕a͜nd da͝n̢ǵe̶r̸ǫu̧sl̷y le̸t͢h͠al̨..̡." She said with a frown.

Alex only shrugged, **"That's kinda the point, idiot!"** He stated matter-of-factly.

He took off towards her again, this time with several blasts from his Soul accompanying him, Alex swung down at her as the two magical blades met once more. She felt the sheer hatred imbued into Alex's strike. It was almost overwhelming, just feeling the negative energy being focused towards her... but she persisted, ready to take on anything Alex could throw at her.

After a moment, Alex focused his Soul's energy into his blade, causing it to temporarily overload and send out a shockwave of energy, forcing the two anomalies apart as the timeline, itself shuddered. The Full Moon above them became a New Moon as the battlefield was plunged into darkness. The only light was not coming from their Souls and their weapons, illuminating fairly little of the battlefield.

Lynsie knew the timeline… the code… couldn't handle too much more of this strain. She had to act quickly. In an effort to protect herself and her currently recovering brothers, she focused on what she had done earlier in the fight and succeeded in summoning several Gaster Blasters, all primed and ready for action. There were ten of them. Needless to say, the skeletons were impressed.

"WAY TO GO LYNSIE!"

"knew you had it in ya."

"✋💣🏱 💧💧✋✞ 📪 ✋❄❄ 📬" (IMPRESSIVE, LITTLE ONE.)

As Alex dove to try to finish off one of the dazed and distracted princes, Lynsie fired off blasts with her new weapons, hitting the space between them and their opponent and forcing Alex to forgo that route.

Suddenly, he got a dangerous gleam in his eye… something that the two Sanses noticed with ease.

"what the hell's happening?"

 _"lynsie! get rid of the blasters!"_ He tried to warn her, but before she could even begin doing so, Alex made his move.

He smirked darkly as a pink wave of magic ejected itself from Alex's Soul as his dark hair became momentarily pink and his irises copied the color change. The wave, however, passed over Lynsie harmlessly.

She looked confused though… and for good reason. Alex wasn't going to make a move that didn't accomplish anything. But… what did it do?

Alex, once more, dove towards the two princes as they regained their footing, holding their weapons as they prepared to defend themselves.

Lynsie shook her head, 'Does he not learn?' She thought as she made the blasters fire at him…

…except… they didn't fire…

Alex smirked as he crossed blades with Chara and Asriel at the same time, before kicking them both and forcing them to make a tactical retreat. Lynsie turned to her 'inactive' blasters to find that the normally white skull cannons now had a pink tint to them.

Her mouth opened in horror as she began to realize what was happening.

She dove to the side as the blasters opened fire on her. A few grazed her and forced her HP to plummet further.

 ***Lynsie 50/100 HP.**

Alex smirked as he saw the number, **"Halfway there, Princess. Guess you're not as strong as you were made out to be…"**

Those blasters were more potent than she realized… or maybe whatever Alex did made them more powerful? Who knows? Definitely not her, as the pink magic certainly wasn't from Passion. She needed to SCAN another part of his Soul.

Alex giggled a bit as he brought the Gaster Blasters over, closer to himself. **"Wow, Sans and Gaster, these things are a _blast_ to use." **He said with a dark smirk.

Despite the pun, no one found it funny.

Lynsie took a deep breath and concentrated on her Anomaly State for a moment.

"̧C͟o̴mmençi̢nǵ Foreign ͝Cod̴e ҉S͘c̡a̢n҉.͠"͟  
͟  
"Ćơd̛e ͝F͟o̷u̢nd.̡ ̨C̕òmpa̛ŗi̛ńg͢ ̴t̕o ͞d͜at͟a arc̀h͡i͘ve̶s."̸

Alex heard her so it again, making him frown, **"Nope, not again. Not on my watch!"**

He charged the cannons as they prepared to fire, before several of them were destroyed by Chara's and Asriel's attacks.

"Come on, brother! We must buy Lynsie some time!" Chara said, holding his blade outstretched towards the blasters.

Asriel smirked, "Way ahead of you, Chara!" He said his arms alit with flames.

Chara smiled fondly at his brother, "Excellent choice, Azzy." He said.

They charged forward, destroying the summoned Gaster Blasters as quickly as they could before they fired at Lynsie. And, the ones that charged too quickly, were destroyed by Asriel with his fireballs.

As Asriel focused on protecting Lynsie, Chara worked on keeping Alex distracted, preventing the kid from trying any other methods to get at their sister.

 **"Ahhh, you're so annoying!"** Alex complained, sending a burst of energy that made Chara stagger back a bit. As Alex turned to try to launch another attack, he noticed two things. One, all the blasters were now destroyed. Two, Lynsie had finished scanning. This caught him by surprise and left him open, allowing Chara to strike back at him.

Alex flew several feet from the harsh blow, decimating his HP as he struck the ground hard. His whole being was coated in darkness as it tried to heal the damage done by Chara.

"D̶ata ̀S̶can c͏om͡p̶l̸et̕ed. Fi̛le ͞de̷sig͢na͜tio̷n̸:̸ FE͜A͡R͞.̧"

͟"̶WAR͘N͝ING̷:̕ ͡THR҉E͜A͘T͝ ̢ĹEVE͝L͢ HA̛S ͢E͜S̡CA̕LA͠TED ͘FŲR͢T͘HE͞Ŗ ̀D͝U͟E̸ T̵O ҉P̕RE̕SE͞NCE ́ÒF͝ ͡F͜E̵AR."

"͝F̸ea̧r͏, ̵hu͠h́?͜"  
̢  
"Ta͞k̛in͠g͟ ̷con̶tro͠l ̡o̕f̛ ̴o̵t̛her͝'s̡ magi̡ç.̧..̸ ̢sęn̢d͡i̢n͘g ͢o͏ther҉s̛ ͜int̶o ͏t͠h͜ȩir ͡nigḩtmares..̕. di͟ab̸o̴lic̸a̴l̶ ҉ánd̴ l͏ow, ͟Ąle͝x.̢.͏."

Alex snarled at her as she said this, climbing back to his feet as the darkness finished its work. His DEF was now below 30. Both of her brothers returned to her side as they stared down their enemy. They heard shouts from their audience.

"My children, be careful!"

 ** _"YOU'VE SCANNED TWO OF THE FOREIGN TRAITS, PRINCESS. YOU MUST SCAN THE LAST AND MOST IMPORTANT ONE!"_**

"YOU'VE GOT THIS LYNSIE!" Papyrus shouted.

Sans agreed, "almost got 'em."

Alex covered both of his ears and shuddered, **"Sh-SHUT UP!"** He shouted as another burst of energy left his Soul and was absorbed into the quickly deteriorating timeline. The wind began to pick up as the stars in the night sky began to blink quickly, like dying lights. Suddenly, all of the stars seemed to move on their own, becoming slightly different than before, while the New Moon became a crescent.

The alternate Sans gasped, _"th-that's our night sky!"_

"✡ 🕆 ✌ 🕆 ✋ 🕆❄ ❄✋💣 📪 ✋❄❄ ✏ ❄ 💧❄ ✌✋ 💣 ❄ ✋💧 ✌ ❄ 👍✌❄✋ ✋💧 ❄ ✌ ✋ ✌🏱✌ ❄ ❄ ✌ ✌👎✡ ✌ ✋ ✌ ✋❄✡✏" (YOU ARE RUNNING OUT OF TIME, LITTLE ONE! THE STRAIN FROM THIS ALTERCATION IS TEARING APART OUR ALREADY FRAGILE REALITY!)

Lynsie nodded, before turning to lock eyes with each of her brothers, "I̕ n̷ee͝d̛ ͏you̸ ͠all͘ t͘o b́u͝y me͡ a ̛bit ́m̕o̷r̀e̸ t͢im͝e." She said as both of her brothers smiled confidently back at her and smiled in agreement.

Chara punched his fist into his open palm with a grin, "We'll give it all we got, eh Asriel?"

Asriel smirked, locking eyes with the foreign Chara for a moment before looking back at his two siblings, "Damn straight!" The alternate Chara couldn't help the small giggle that came out when he said that.

Lynsie smiled thankfully and nodded, as the two greatest brothers ever ran toward Alex to prevent his interruption on Lynsie's concentration.

"͠Commen̢c͠iņg ͠F͞or̶eig͏n̕ ͝C͏òde S͡c͏a͟ń.̷"́

"̵C͢o͘de͞ ̨Fo͡un̕d͢. ̢C̢ơm̢ṕa̕ring tǫ d̷ąt̷a arch҉i̡v͢e͞s."

Alex, however, wasn't wasting any time dealing with these two. He raised both of his hands at his sides as pillars of dark, twisted magic rose from the earth before he commanded them forward. He pushed his now-closed fists towards them as the pillars did the same, aiming at the two princes.

The pillars of magic flowed at them like torrents of water. Just as deadly and maneuverable as water would be, they approached as they threw as much magic as they could at them. With their parent's training, they rained a fiery hell of fire magic at the darkness, burning it away more quickly then it could reform.

Alex began pumping more and more of his mana and energy into it as his 'pillars' reformed quickly. After a moment, the two pillars hit their targets, but rather than send them flying, they coiled around the princes like anacondas, cutting off their magical assault.

Alex smirked as they struggled, making his smirk grow wider by the second. However, now was not the time to celebrate. He hadn't won yet.

The teenager clenched his fists tighter and tighter as they darkness did likewise to its captive, squeezing the life out of them. Their HP began to plummet as the onlookers gasped at the sight.

 ***Chara 80/100 HP**

 ***Asriel 150/170 HP**

Alex smiled fiendishly as his attention focused on the two alternate versions of his own siblings. They both struggled as best as they could against the grip, Chara especially, as his Soul glowed brightly with Determination. He smirked and laughed, **"What good is your Determination now, Chara?"**

Alex clenched his fists a bit more as the drain increased, causing the two of them to cry out in pain as the onlookers to began begging.

 ***Chara 60/100 HP**

 ***Asriel 130/170 HP**

"M-my children!" Toriel cried, "Alex, please! Stop this! I cannot lose them! Not again!"

 _"stop it alex, they've had enough!"_

 ** _"THIS ISN'T YOU, ALEX. YOU ARE NOT A MURDERER!"_**

"ALEX, STOP THIS MADNESS!"

"ALEX!" Frisk screamed, "Don't kill them!"

"hurry it up, there, sweetheart." Sans said urgently.

Alex shrugged as he kept his back towards the audience, ignoring their pleas, **"Hey Azzy, I see you've got a bit more health than Chara…"** Alex said, smirking, **"Maybe that means you'll be able to see Chara die again!"** He taunted, voice coated in malice. He then looked past them to see Lynsie, still scanning him carefully.

He turned back to the princes as he approached where they now floated. **"Hehe, guess sis ain't as strong as I thought."** He said, shrugging again, **"That's fine, this has been enjoyable… annoying… but enjoyable nonetheless…"**

The squeezing intensified. The alternates from Alex's timeline, not fully grasping the strength of the combat magic, began to bang on the magical barrier separating them from the fight.

 ***Chara 45/100 HP**

 ***Asriel 115/170 HP**

"Fffffuuuucccckkkk, this hurts!" Chara shouted, continuing to resist with his full strength, his red Soul not dimming in the slightest.

Asriel snarled at Alex despite the pain he was in, "Don't do THIS! AHHHhhh!"

Alex shrugged, **"And why not? It's not like you weren't planning to give ME a similar fate…"**

 ***Chara 30/100 HP**

 ***Asriel 100/170 HP**

Alex didn't notice, but Chara did… Asriel had a dangerous gleam in his eye as he focused all of his magic towards a single, common goal. Chara's eyes widened in concern despite the pain.

"Azzy, NO!"

Asriel, however, ignored his brother. Suddenly, the thunder echoed in the sky, before three bolts of rainbow lightning rained down from the sky, striking the two pillars of darkness and Alex, himself, sending the boy flying back.

The magical darkness collapsed and vaporized as the two captives fell to the ground. Chara landed on his two feet, but Asriel collapsed to his knees, before fully collapsing on the grass below him.

"AZZY!" Chara cried out, running over to try to help his brother, who was fully drained of all stamina and nearly all magic. Chara held Asriel as he flipped him over, looking down at his exhausted face.

"Hehe, s-sorry Chara." He apologized, "Th-that was pretty stupid." He stuttered out, tired.

Chara shook his head, "Yeah, just hang on, idiot." He said in a friendly manner, before looking up to see Alex approaching them slowly, his sword of darkness nowhere to be found. Instead, his hands were fists and glowing with a dangerous darkness. He appeared to have normal DEF now, resting at 25 since his sword was destroyed.

He looked pissed, **"That… that really hurt Asriel…"** He said, preparing to launch a blast of magic at them as he held his arm out towards the two of them, **"You've made this so much harder than it had to be…"**

* * *

͜"̕Da̴t̵a ́Scaǹ ço͝m̨p̛ĺe͘ted́. File͢ ҉d̴èsiģna͞ti͞ǫn͟:̴ ͝PU̡RITY͟."

 _{Battle Music: **Megalotrousle** (by SharaX Official)[youtube]}_  
̛  
̡"N̢E̵W͞ ͜TR̢AIT VE̵R̷IFI̸E̵D̶.͠ ̕A͏C̶CES̕S̷ G͡RANT́E͢D̴."̕

Alex turned to completely face Lynsie upon hearing her speak for the first time in a few minutes, before being blasted backward. A silver beam of energy impacted Alex directly in his Soul while he was distracted, sending him skidding and sliding several yards back.

The two princes were immediately released from their hold as the dark pillars shuddered and dissolved, with neither a caster to control them nor the energy to maintain themselves. They landed on their hands and knees as they turned towards the origin of the blast.

Standing there was Lynsie, her arms stretched outwards toward Alex as her irises were a brilliant, regal silver. Her Soul, likewise, began to exhibit a brilliant and foreign shine, and the mix of colors now had silver mixed in. She… Lynsie…

 ***You are filled with Purity!**

Both of her brothers cheered as they realized how little energy and stamina they had left.

"Go get him, sis!" Asriel cheered.

"Kick his ass!" Chara agreed.

The others watched all cheered for her as she was back in the fight. She held her ghostly version of the Clavicle as its red gave way to a metallic silver color. She eyed her brothers before turning toward Alex and narrowing her eyes at him.

No one hurts her family!

She tightened her grip on the blade as she took a step forward towards Alex as he regained his footing. He looked really, REALLY pissed. And his expression turned darker as he saw the silver in her eyes.

 **"N-NO!"** He shouted in rage, **"That's not possible! I'm the only one with Purity!"** He demanded.

Lynsie began to slowly approach Alex as she shrugged innocently while her face portrayed a different story, filled with anger, "͡Huh,̵ r҉éa͏l҉l̨y?͘ .̢.͟.Guess th͢e͢r͠e͘'̢s now two of͢ u͢s͝.̢.."͏

Alex shook his head and fired a dark beam of Hatred at her with his own Soul, which she countered with another beam of Purity from her own Soul, overpowering her opponent's attack. In fact, it destroyed Alex's beam, only to continue forward and nearly hit Alex, before he dodged it quickly.

He pumped his Hatred and Fear into his blade of darkness, making a second copy of it, which appeared in his left hand. He now had dual swords, **"It doesn't matter! I'm still stronger!"**

He leaped at her, swinging both swords down at her, but she blocked it with her own blade, which held together despite the strain put upon it. Alex fired up his dark aura around him, trying to pump the Hatred into her weapon to dissolve it once more… but this time, it didn't work. Her blade remained in place.

His eyes widened in shock, **"H-how are you countering my HATE?!"**

Lynsie smiled, "̷I̢ noti͘ce̕d ́s̵om͏e̷t͟hing.̧ HA̛TÈ..̛.̵ ̵It's like̡ ̵LǪVÈ in̵ śo m͏a̸ny w̨ay̷s.̕ A̕n͠d l̵i͢kȩ ̛L͘O̷VE͘, the be̕s̵t c͠ou͠n̡ter i͠s l̸ow͟erc͏ase ҉l̷ove.҉"͟ She informed him, before continuing.

She looked and made eye contact with her brothers, parents, and "I̢ ̸lo͞v́e ̸my ̛f͢ami̕ly̨,̶ ̵m҉y ̴f̸riends, a̕nd͝ m̵y w͝o͘rld̴.̀ ͟I̧ kn̢o͟ẃ ̛wh͠at̵ ͞i͡t̢'s l̵i͟k̴e͞ t̛o ̡f̸e͠el̵ l͘ike҉ ̵you͘ ha̸v̷e̴ no͟ ̧love̶.͘..̴ ̛b̶ut҉ s̸omeon͡e ͜ǫu҉t͠ ̴théŕȩ.͟.."̡ ̀ She paused for a moment to look over at the alternate Frisk. She had tears rolling down her eyes as she appeared mortified by Alex's actions.

̀"..̵.t̶he̸y̨.̶..͡ ̴s͠he͘ l̕ov̡es͠ ͞y̡o͏u,̨ ̶A̴lex.̨" She told him, loosening the grip the negative traits held on him.

Alex, though, quickly shook his head, **"No, you're lying!"** He said, pulling back his blade as he tried to swing the blade at her once more.

She, however, caught him off-guard with another blast of Purity to his chest, sending him stumbling a few feet back as his Soul began to shudder and flash.

Suddenly, Alex smiled innocently at Lynsie, dropping his blade. **"I…** I'm free. Thank you Lynsie." He said, taking a small step forward toward her as his Soul disappeared from view. Lynsie looked him in the eyes carefully, thinking this over for a moment.

'Just like that? It's over?' She thought... before she remembered the vision/dream with Sans and Alex fighting. Back then, Alex was trying to Purify Sans… and he faked it. He pretended to be all better... just before striking a killing blow.

Lynsie decided to go with her gut as she smiled warmly at Alex, ̶"̶I̕'̛m ̷sơrr͘y A̷l̵ex̨.̡.́. but͏ y̡ou ̷c̷a͏n't ͠f͠ool ̸m̡e!"̵ She told him, blasting him once more as his Soul returned into view.

His Soul was shuddering even more violently now. Lynsie could see the code of the Fear and Hate beginning to lose their grips on Alex's Soul. Alex noticed this feeling of weakness as horror and realization dawned on his face. He began to plead with her.

 **"P-please don't do this Lynsie!"** He cried out, using her real name, rather than refer to her as merely 'princess'. **"W-we're technically siblings, Lynn."** He said, trying to convince her to stop, **"W-we have the same siblings a-and parents…"** Alex reasoned, **"Y-you wouldn't hurt your brother, would you?"**

Lynsie took another step toward him, before stopping in her tracks. She sighed, staring him in his broken, pleading, yet dark eyes. The power, hate, and fear still held onto him like a virus… like an addiction. She shook her head as she replied.

͞"Th҉i͘s is̴n't ͢you̶,̨ A͟l͜e͡x."̨

Alex didn't like this answer. **"Y-you know nothing about me!"** He shouted, rising to his feet as he resummoned the dark blade to his hands.

Instead of attacking her straightforward like she expected, Alex rolled to his left before then dashing forward, dodging Lynsie's blast of Purity magic.

He approached her, he swiped his hand at her Soul, getting just close enough to feed off of some of her power, empowering him once more and allowing his Hatred and Fear to re-cement themselves into his Soul, making him smile as he felt the power flow through him.

 ***Alex's Stats have increased greatly.**

Lynsie, having to wait a moment before she could fire Purity at him once more, swung her blade at Alex's causing them to meet and clash against one another. He snarled at her, **"Just who the hell are you?"** He almost spat at her, eyeing her Soul dangerously before he was sent staggering back.

She frowned and shook her head, ͜"̴I'̸m Ly̛ns̀ie̢ D̡ŕeęmurr̴,̕ ́d̸aught͝er ̵o̕f̕ ̷Asg҉ơre͏ ҉a̧n͟d ͟To͘ri̕e̛l҉ ͝D̀r̴ee͘mùr̡r, sist́er͠ to ͟C̢har̴a a̵n̛d͠ ͘A͏sr͘i҉el̸, ́a͟nd ̧be͞l̢ǫve̛d b͏y San͏s an͜d̀ P̡a͠pýŗu҉s.̢"̷

He stretched his back a bit as he straightened his posture, **"And what makes you so damn special? What makes you so powerful!"**

"͞S̷ómethįn̡g̸ ҉you do͠n̵'t̢ po͟s̴s͏ess ̕r̛ight ̴now. ̨L͝ov͘e͘, 'bro͜t͞he͏r'."̢

Alex flinched when he heard her use such a word on him. Brother? She's just trying to get under his skin… distract him… intimidate him… make him feel secure before plunging the knife into his back…

 **"Love? I'll show you LOVE!"**

He dove towards her once more, clashing with her, before sending a pulse of pink FEAR into her Soul, attempting to lock her into a nightmare. However, her irises flashed pink for only a split second, before returning to silver.

 **"B-but how?!"**

̛"̴I ́scanned ̶F͘E̕A̷R͠,̛ '͜b̢rot͜her'.͜..͜" She said, using 'brother' once more to get to him, "I ḱno͝w i̛t̴'s͠ inn҉e͞r̕ worki̢ngs no̷w. ̨FEA̡R is ̀co̢nq͡uer̶ed by̕ ̛Déterm̧ina͢ti̸on͠..̡. PU̵RIT̴Y̷ can͏ r̛e͢ḿov̨e ̶F̕EA̢R̨ ̴t̛oo͜.͏.. a͘nd͢ the ̸fe̛a̵r̶ of̵ FE҉A͘R?҉"̕ She paused, letting Alex sink that information in, "I̴n͟ ͢oth̸e͘r͏ ͡w̡ord͜s...͟ I'̸m im͜mu͠n̡e!́" She finished with a smile.

Before Alex could respond, a silver beam of magic struck his Soul, causing the darkness' hold over it to weaken. He frowned at her, **"Cheating bitch…"** He swore under his breath, before sending a pulse of shadow and smoke out in every direction, obscuring him from view.

She eyed her surroundings carefully, looking for any sign of movements to betray Alex's position. She saw the smoke shudder a bit to her left, so as she turned to prepare for Alex's charge, he charged out towards her.

Right before he struck her silver blade, a wave of darkness slashed her side, having been summoned within the smoke and sent slowly while she was distracted by Alex.

 ***Lynsie 40/100 HP**

Despite the pain of the blow, she still met Alex's shadowy blade with her own, preventing another strike at her. He looked surprised. **"Damn, you're more resilient than I thought."**

He pressed his blade harder against hers, but she held, steadfast, and used her magic to throw him back, making him stumble a bit as he tried to recover. She held the handle of her sword like it was a javelin, and sent it flying toward Alex while he was unprepared.

It struck his side, cutting a deep gash near his ribcage on his left as it sailed away into the dark cloud of smoke behind him. The wound began to bleed before it closed slightly.

 ***Alex 15/20 HP**

Alex smirked as he looked at her… but after a moment, his smirk died.

He wasn't healing…

The darkness was too strained to heal him any further.

His eyes widened in fear, just before he narrowed them at her and smirked once more despite his current situation with his HP. **"Ha, you're defenseless now!"** He taunted.

She shook her head as she focused her magic. A moment later, she was wielding glowing silver swords, identical in style to her brother's Chaos Sabers. Asriel looked at the display with fascination and surprise, as did her other brother, Chara. The two of them, despite their energy returning, decided to stay out of the way of this.

Alex rushed forward, swinging his blade down, which she caught with her left blade, before striking the dark sword with her right. The Purity infused into the sabers caused them to easily slice through Alex's dark blade, destroying it immediately.

As Alex looked at his empty hands in shock, Lynsie sent another blast of Purity into his Soul at point-blank range, allowing the entirety of the beam to enter and cleanse his Soul.

The darkness' grip on his Soul was reaching its breaking point once more. In fact, it had grown so weak this time that Alex's HP stuttered and warped, dropping five additional points as the wounds that the darkness had previously healed reopened.

His gash on his side began to bleed once more, as several cuts and bruises reappeared on him. He did not look happy by this newest revelation. A fiery rage burned in his eyes as he glared at Lynsie, **"M-My power… Why are you doing this?! Leave me alone!"**

Instead of dashing towards her, like he'd done so many times before, he began to fire dark blasts of magic from his Soul from afar. He no longer had a weapon to use, nor the energy to summon a new one. She easily dodged the many, many blasts sent her way as she approached Alex slowly, while he continued to fire at her.

The remaining blasts sent at her were countered with bone attacks, which easily cut through Alex's weakening magic.

Alex felt his stamina collapse and his body betray him as he fell to his knees, exhausted.

Lynsie approached the fallen human and stood mere feet away as she came to a complete stop. She outstretched her right hand toward Alex, aiming at his Soul.

He looked up at her with a gleam of anger in his eyes. No regret at all.

She frowned at him, "̴I̸͘'̸̴m͠ ̨ś̕o̡͢rry̧͢,͜͡ Al͜ę̸x͡.͏"̵̕͡

Before he could even begin to try to retaliate or fight back, she blasted his Soul once more as it tore through the darkness around it. It shuddered for a moment longer, before it stopped and cracked. The black shell around his Soul cracked and exploded into a million pieces, before they vaporized and vanished without a trace, leaving his real Soul behind.

 _[Music END]_

* * *

Alex's eyes rolled into the back of his head as he collapsed unconscious in the burnt, damaged field of grass and flowers beneath him.

Lynsie took several deep breaths as she looked upon Alex's crumpled form, ignoring the cheers of victory around her as the Battle Magic began to vanish and collapse. With the strain on the timeline decreasing to more manageable levels, the night sky returned to normal, with the moon now full and the stars back where they belong.

Alex's Soul was still visible to everyone, though. It was no longer dark grey, but it was also nothing like the silver color her Soul had gained. It was dull and dark… and cracking…

Cracking?!

Her eyes opened widely as cracks began to form on Alex's Soul, while various holes, gashes, and wounds reopened on Alex's body. She watched as his HP jumped down to 1 in an instant, signaling the collapse of his magic. It seems that whatever 'healing' the dark magic had done for him had been undone when its presence was fully destroyed.

She quickly reached down and picked up Alex's weak form. His breathing was heavy and shallow. Everyone began to gather around as panic began to set in, replacing the cheering and happiness they had previously because of her success.

With her Anomaly State still active, she focused on her magic, trying to do something she hadn't done before. She really hoped she'd luck out and do this right…

Suddenly, the two Anomalies vanished, leaving the collection of Humans and Monsters to try to figure out what just happened… and what to do next…

 ***YOU WON!**

 ***You earned 0 XP and 0 gold.**

* * *

 ** _Author's Note:_**

 ** _And that, my friends/readers, was the FIGHT scene between Alex and Lynsie. Granted, the HATE and FEAR changed the way they battled, but I think it went fairly well. Now that it's over, there's the aftermath that's coming…_**

 ** _The timeline is weakened and close to snapping… Alex might be mortally wounded from all of his injuries… Lynsie had scanned three new traits and showed off the use of Purity… and there was absolutely NO WAY that some portion of the public DIDN'T notice the change in weather and the sky OR the whole mess at the hospital…_**

 ** _Welp… this will be… interesting…_**


	14. Healing the Cracks

**Remember: Spoilers for Undertale, my story, and R.I.P Lynn's are contained within this story. **

**If you'd rather not be spoiled in any of those three ways, please stop now and go read the other stories or play the game. (It's worth it!)**

 **If you need another reminder/overview of either of our stories, please go back to chapter one or two to check them out.**

 **Thanks again to R.I.P. Lynn for making this possible.**

 **Now, time to check on everyone!**

* * *

 **Chapter Fourteen:** Healing the cracks

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty!" Reporters called in a cacophonous racket, trying to get the Monster King's attention as he took center stage. This was a live broadcast, being aired by every news station in the country.

Countless cameras and microphones were focused on the great and powerful king as he cleared his throat, silencing the reporters as he prepared to speak. The background behind them revealed that they were holding this press conference/ announcement right outside of the Hospital that Alex had… um… well, kinda damaged a bit…

Behind him stood his wife and Queen, Toriel, sending a reassuring smile to Asgore for a moment, before her face went serious for the camera. Beside him stood Captain Undyne in her full uniform and armor, with two other Royal Guards. Further to the side, standing directly behind the king was a high-ranking member of local law enforcement, as well as some federal agents and representatives.

It was nearly midnight.

As soon as the crowd became quiet, he spoke in his commanding, yet gentle voice.

"Howdy, and good evening." He began, staring directly into the camera as he spoke, "As many of you are already aware, a bizarre and frightening series of events has occurred several hours ago in our humble Ebbot City." He said, pausing for a moment before elaborating.

"Earlier this evening, just after sunset at about 8:30 pm, there was an explosion on the fifth floor of Ebbot General Hospital. This explosion has caused hundreds of thousands of dollar's worth of damage to the technology on that floor while injuring several dozen people. As of now, there have been no reported fatalities, and the structural integrity of the building appears to be intact." He stated for them, continuing, "However, the Hospital is now fully evacuated and those who need treatment have been rerouted to other nearby hospitals. There are officials from both local law enforcement and federal agencies here tonight to investigate the scene fully." He informed the public. Several reporters took this moment of silence to try to ask him questions.

"Your Majesty."

He held up a paw, telling them that it wasn't the time for questions yet. They quieted down as he began to speak once more.

"At approximately 9:00, until 9:15, there were widespread reports of the night sky changing dramatically and seemingly unnaturally. The stars were reported to have changed positions slightly, while the moon was seen to change from a full moon to a new moon, before then becoming a waning crescent." He explained, looking slightly troubled.

"However, the sky has since returned to normal, and no adverse effects have been observed by this phenomenon. There will be federal agents working with esteemed Royal Scientist W. D. Gaster to discover the cause of this, and we will be sure to announce the findings once final conclusions are reached…"

He looked over his back towards the federal agents, who remained emotionless. One of them, the one who seemed more in-charge, nodded slowly, signaling that Asgore should continue.

He turned back to the crowd and looked back into the cameras, "There have been rumors and reports that various Anti-Monster Extremist Groups or Terrorist Organizations might be responsible for these incidents, but it has not been observed nor believed that this is the case. These are simply rumors, and are not to be believed."

He took a deep breath, looking down at the provided paper on the podium. She looked away from it and back at the cameras. It almost appeared like he was about to step down, but he didn't. He, instead, continued.

"To all of you out there, listening tonight or in the future, do not be afraid." He began, getting a few looks from the agents. It was as if he wasn't originally planned to be up there this long, "We have been through much worse in the past, and I can say honestly that there is not currently any threat." He assured them, gently and subtly hinting at their time in the Underground… to those that remembered, at least.

"Stay Determined." He finished, gaining a slight, quiet applause as he stepped back. The moment he did, the reporters realized their mistake and began screaming their demands for questions. To this, the lead federal agent on scene stepped forward and spoke into the mic, allowing Asgore to accompany his wife.

"I apologize, but His Majesty, King Asgore Dreemurr will not be available for questions. However, I will answer what I can." She said, no sooner had she finished that the onslaught of questions continued.

"Ma'am, Ma'am!" They shouted before the human woman pointed to one of the reporters. The rest went quiet as he asked his question.

"There are rumors that the one responsible for the explosion, although not-yet-identified, is also responsible for the sky incident. Is this true and have there been any leads to apprehend the suspect?"

* * *

Lynsie let out a sigh before she reached over to Frisk's lap with her left hand, taking the T.V. remote and muting the news program. She'd rather not hear any more of it…

Lynsie readjusted herself in the uncomfortable blue chair provided by the hospital, with a window to her right and the exit to the hospital room on her left.

Before her lay Alex, unconscious and wrapped in countless bandages, covering countless cuts and bruises. The doctor had given her a diagnosis of her friend's injuries.

 _'Several lacerations, with one on his leg puncturing an artery. Many bruises across his torso and limbs, with four broken ribs. Possible concussion. Extensive damage to his Soul, which had an undocumented Soul trait.'_ She had been told. He'd been beaten pretty badly. The doctor had told her it's a miracle that he received so many injuries and live. She'd arrived with him at the hospital just in time to save his life. Even with the way technology and magic have progressed, his injuries are too extensive to be immediatly healed. He'd have to stay overnight as the medicine and healing magic do their thing.

And boy… the doctor didn't even know the kid was fighting strongly with these injuries…

Lynsie turned to her right, where her arm was around Frisk, who was sitting in the second chair provided, leaning into Lynsie as she tried to stay strong. Poor Frisky…

Frisk looked up at her with her normally brown eyes, which were now puffy and red from her crying. Lynsie's own eyes had returned to normal, as she had deactivated her Anomaly State the moment she successfully shortcutted to this hospital.

Another nearby Hospital, built on the edge of Ebott and a decent distance from the other, more broken one. This is, of course, because a certain anomaly trashed the main hospital in Ebbot, and returning there might not be the best course of action.

The two of them sat in silence with Alex in the room. Neither speaking a word to one another. Not because they had some sort of distrust between them, rather there was nothing to say at the moment.

Chara and Asriel were downstairs, being treated by healers since their injuries weren't as extensive as Alex's. The doctors demanded that Lynsie rests for treatment too since her HP was below the halfway point, but she refused. Instead, she ate one of alternate Sans' hot cats to replenish her HP and partially heal her while she stayed with Alex. Frisk, of course, refused to leave his side once she arrived at the hospital.

The two skeleton brothers were staying outside the room, keeping a watchful eye on the staff, while Doctor Gaster took most of the alternates back to his lab to begin the final preparations on their machine… to hopefully end this crisis once and for all.

Frisk took a deep, shaky breath before she spoke, "I… I don't hold this against you, you know?" She said quietly, refusing to make eye contact.

Lynsie frowned, not looking at Frisk either. She responded, "Who? Me… or Alex?"

Frisk wrapped both of her arms around Lynsie, pulling herself closer to Lynn. "Both of you…" She replied into Lynsie's shirt.

Lynsie nodded, watching Alex as his heartbeat monitor created the only noise in the room aside for their breathing.

"Frisk… are you going to be alright?"

She nodded into her shirt, not looking up at Lynsie, "I… I don't know." She admitted, "I just hope Alex is the same after all of this…"

Lynsie smiled gently and nodded, "I'm sure he'll recover Frisk." She told her confidently, "You heard the doc, and I've seen him fight. He's one tough cookie. This won't keep him down, I'm sure of it." She said reassuringly, despite the small amount of doubt seeping into Lynsie's mind. After all, she hardly knew the kid aside from the stories she'd heard.

Frisk looked up at her now, her eyes had tears welling inside of them as she smiled gratefully at her, "Th-thanks Lynsie!" She said before diving back in for a hug, which Lynsie allowed, wrapping her arms around the teenager to comfort her back and return the hug.

They sat like that for a few moments longer, before a knock came from the door.

 _"knock, knock."_

Neither of them were in the mood for a knock-knock joke, which the person on the other side of the door sensed, halting his joke as he slowly opened the door.

Sans smiled awkwardly in his damaged lab coat, looking at the pair of them. He scratched the back of his skull, _"sorry to both ya'll, but i'm gonna need to borrow frisk for a bit."_

Frisk looked at him, tilting her head in confusion as Lynsie expressed it for the two of them, "Why? Is it important?"

Sans chuckled awkwardly before nodding, _"actually, yeah."_ He said, clarifying, _"ya see, we're trying to pinpoint the exact origin of the code error, and we think it's got something to do with the resets, seeing as they're the main source of fun value changes."_

Lynsie was a little confused, "And why do you need Frisk?"

 _"well, g hypothesized that if we compared various pieces of both frisks' data, then we might be able to find the differences and use them as a guide… of sorts…"_

Frisk frowned, but gave in and stood up. She turned toward Lynsie before taking a step, though, "Lynsie?"

"Yeah, Frisk?"

"Could you… you know… let me know when he wakes up?"

She smiled gently and nodded, "I'll send Doctor Gaster a phone call the moment Alex stirs."

Frisk smiled brightly, rushing forward to give Lynsie another hug, before she broke it off, "Thanks!" She then reached out to take Sans' hand.

Sans smiled apologetically, _"again, sorry. it should only take a few minutes."_

And suddenly, a blue flash erupted from Sans and Frisk's position. By the time the flash ended, the two of them vanished.

Lynsie sighed and smiled gently to herself. She leaned forward and looked at Alex once more. Poor kid…

Speaking of Alex, his heart-rate began to climb slowly as he stirred awake.

His eyes opened and he tried to sit up, before grunting in pain and falling back into place, gaining Lynsie's attention. She perked up a bit and devoted her attention to the awake person before her, his eyes closed in pain… likely from the broken ribs.

After a moment, the pain must've died down enough for him to calm down, so he opened his eyes, looking forward and making eye contact with Lynsie. He maintained eye contact for a few moments longer, before tears formed in his eyes.

Before they began to fall, Alex looked up at the ceiling and muttered, "Fuck..."

Tears streamed down his face as he sealed his eyes, trying to stop the flow of salt water, but they wouldn't heed his command.

"Alex?" Lynsie asked quietly, trying to calm him down.

She prepared to rise from her seat, but she froze when he spoke between his sobs, "P-Please… p-p-please tell me that it w-was… that it was j-just a dr-dream…" He begged her, his eyes still closed.

Lynsie shook her head and frowned despite him not looking at her. "I… I'm sorry Alex. It wasn't a dream."

Alex nodded in acceptance as he continued to cry, muttering things between sobs, such as 'I can't believe it.', 'What have I done?', and 'I hurt them again.'.

Lynsie, snapping out of it, walked over and softly put a hand on Alex's shoulder, beckoning him to look at her, which he did. Alex frowned and looked away, "Why don't you hate me?"

"Why would yo-" She began.

Alex interrupted, "I hurt my friends, I hurt your family… hell, I tried to suffocate your brothers and to take your Soul's power…" He nearly shouted, looking away in shame, "All I've ever done it make things worse, hurting others…"

Lynsie shook her head and shook Alex's shoulder, making him look back at her. "Alex, I'll admit, I wasn't happy during that fight… and if I'm being honest, I wasn't fully against kicking your ass after you almost killed Chara and Asriel." She informed him, making him feel all-the-more guilty.

"…but…" She continued, "I know that I wasn't fighting the real you."

"How can you say that?" Alex said, confused.

She frowned and looked out the window, "You fought Asriel, right? As the god of hyperdeath?"

Alex nodded, remembering his timeline vividly, "Yeah… but I had Frisk and Chara by my side."

"Well, how about Chara? You fought her?"

Alex, again, nodded. "Yes. I went to another timeline… with a genocide. I fought Chara, who was possessing Frisk." He admitted sadly before he added one last correction, "But I still had help."

Lynsie sat down on the hospital bed beside Alex, locking her eyes onto his, "We fought them when they weren't themselves. When both lacked love… when they lacked a Soul… when they were both merely shadows of their former selves." She explained to Alex, who listened intently, before rebutting her argument.

"Yeah, but I had my full Soul still!" He argued, "I didn't have a fragment of a Soul, subjected to countless RESETs. I didn't have an empty void, losing my emotions and love."

Lynsie nodded, "That may be true, but your Soul was gripped by darkness and negativity. Similarly to how Chara was when I found him. He'd given into the darkness and Relentlessness, much like how you gave into Hate and Fear." She reasoned.

Alex looked away and frowned, sobering quickly as he spoke again, "And the point is?" He asked, shocking her with his bluntness. Before she could respond, he cut her off as he continued and explained himself. "The authorities are certainly going to come after me soon enough, and I'm sure Asriel and Chara never had to deal with that." His frown grew in size as he slowly nodded, "And I deserve punishment… After all, no one is above consequences." He said sadly.

"And what of Frisk?" She asked, making him look at her, "She'd be devastated."

Alex struggled to withhold his tears before swallowing them, "Frisk… there's no way she doesn't hate me after all of this… I've put her through so much anyway, so it'd be one less burden."

Lynsie stood up and faced Alex, crossing her arms as she looked down at Alex. She couldn't take this anymore, not with him being stupid, "Then you're a fucking idiot!" She shouted harshly, making Alex flinch at her harsh words.

She shook her head, "Do you not pay attention?" She asked, "Frisk loves you Alex! She's been worried sick, waiting with me for hours as we watched you. Do you know the one thing she was focused on when she found us? You! She wanted nothing more than to find YOU!" She explained aloud, making Alex look down in shame.

"I'm… I'm not worth all that…" He finally said.

She shook her head again, "That's where you're wrong 'brother'." She said, making Alex flinch once more when she called him that, "Everyone cares about you… and I've heard the stories!" She informed him, "Your 'fall' into Ebbot to find her… your battles and struggles to save her from Gaster… Your fights against those who wished to destroy your timeline… and even your dates with her." Alex's face went blood red when she mentioned that last part.

She sighed, crouching down a bit to be at Alex's eye level, "You mean more to them than they could ever tell you. They're worried about you, Alex. Now… tell me what's wrong!" She demanded, but Alex shook his head.

"It's not anyone's concern. Only mine."

She put her hands on her hips as she frowned, rising back to her full height. "It became my damn concern when you blew up half of a hospital floor." She informed him without mercy, making him flinch, frown, and look down in shame.

The two of them remained silent for a moment, before Alex softly responded, "I…" He paused, looking up at Lynsie and making eye contact, "You're the anomaly of this world, right?" He asked, getting a nod in response. Then, he whispered, "Do you ever wish that… you weren't?"

He asked, shocking Lynsie with such a question. "What do you-?"

"Do you ever wish… that you were just normal? Not some Anomaly… not some savior… just that you were Lynsie Dreemurr?" He clarified, continuing to whisper.

Lynsie pulled one of the chairs over to beside Alex's bed before taking a seat. She thought for a moment, before replying to his question with a question, Socratic-style, "Why do you ask?"

Alex let a few new tears fall as he explained slowly and as clearly as possible, "I don't want to be an Anomaly…" He began, "I don't like being a m-mistake in the grand scheme of th-things… I just w-want to be Alex… a normal k-kid with NORMAL problems."

"Why?" Lynsie asked, "Being normal is boring."

Alex chuckled darkly before responding, wiping a few tears from his eyes, "Yeah, that's right… being murdered and tortured isn't boring in the slightest." He said humorlessly, making Lynsie look at the kid with concern.

"I didn't mean it like that." She said apologetically.

Alex shrugged, "I know…"

He continued, "If I was boring and normal, I wouldn't have died to Sans… If I was boring and normal, I wouldn't have been so gravely injured on so many occasions over these last few years… And most of all…" He said, before swallowing harshly, "If I was normal, I wouldn't be looked upon as a beacon of 'Hope and Purity'." He admitted.

Lynsie thought back to the stories she'd heard about Chara being heavily affected by Asgore's exclamation that they'd be the 'Future of Humans and Monsters'. The burden of such a role had gotten to them, and Chara's pretty strong, both in the physical and emotional sense.

She opened her mouth, "You couldn't bear the burden." She concluded, to which Alex nodded.

"Yeah…" He said, pausing for a moment, "No one ever asked me if I wanted all of this. And after dealing with the Entity, I thought it would be all over… that'd I'd have a chance at being a normal teenager… and boy was I wrong…"

She looked into Alex's eyes, seeing his sadness and sincerity at everything he was saying… it tugged at her heart. She spoke, continuing his train-of-thought, "And the stress of it all made you fall into despair, didn't it?"

Alex didn't nod, but the look in his eyes confirmed her theory. "A-and everyone made it l-look so easy…" He continued, "F-Frisk and Chara were fine… all o-of the Monsters, e-even Sans didn't seem bothered b-by anything… even A-Alric and Verdana…" He paused for a moment, "I-I mean they struggled with it, b-but…"

"But they appear fine, undamaged even?" Lynsie asked.

Alex nodded, "A-and then the nightmares started, a-and I couldn't control m-my magic very well a-anymore…" He admitted as he stuttered, "A-and then the flashbacks and br-breakdowns began… I couldn't take much more…"

Lynsie nodded, putting a gentle hand on his shoulder, "And coming here to this timeline… my world…"

She didn't need to finish her sentence, but Alex did, nodding, "It re-reminded me of the past. I… I didn't want to d-do this anymore, which is why I began avoiding G-Gaster's lab in the first place." He took a deep breath, "And waking up here… I knew I wouldn't last long, s-so I began to l-look for Sans."

"You thought that he'd help you get home… before something happened." She assumed, her conclusion being confirmed as truth as he nodded.

Surprising Alex, Lynsie leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him gently, pulling him into a hug. He flinched at first, but soon enough he let her do so. He buried his face into her damaged shirt and began to sob, finally telling someone about his problems.

As he cried there for a moment, Lynsie spoke, surprising him, "Yes."

Alex's sobs slowed down a bit. After a moment, he looked up at her, "Wh-what?"

"Yes, I did want to be normal." She reaffirmed, shocking Alex, "Back in the Underground, when I learned I was an Anomaly, I was kinda devastated… as you can imagine." She admitted, "I didn't like the idea of not belonging… and it didn't help that Gaster, the River Person, and Gaster's Followers kept informing me of that fact."

"Wh-what do you mean th-that you 'did'?" Alex questioned, intrigued that he wasn't the only one who felt this way.

She smiled gently, "Because then… I found purpose."

Alex looked at her in confusion, silently asking her to elaborate.

She smiled warmly, casting a glance towards the door, where Sans and Papyrus were standing on the other side, "I found love, Alex. And love means everything." She locked her eyes back onto Alex's, "And I saw the love Frisk has for you, and you for her… hold onto that Alex, that's the only way to make it through this." She told him.

He nodded sincerely, hugging her back and making her smile gently at him.

"Now, why don't we give Frisk a call?" She asked as Alex wiped his tears, sitting back up, "She wanted to know when you were awake. She was called away by Gaster." She explained, to which Alex nodded.

She pulled her phone out and pulled up Doctor Gaster's number, but didn't click it just yet, "And Alex?" She asked, gaining his attention once more.

"Y-yeah?

"I know you don't want to 'burden' your friends… but you need to talk to them about this." Alex looked down in shame, "You're only burdening them by making them worry and not talking to them."

Alex hesitated for a moment before he gave in and nodded, "Th-thanks Lynsie…" His Soul within his Chest seemed a bit brighter now as more life could be seen in his eyes. It wasn't perfectly silver like it should be… it'd take some time, but he was on the road to recovery now.

She smiled and nodded, "No problem, bro."

Alex chuckled, "Why do you keep calling me that? I'm not your brother, adopted or otherwise." He questioned, a bit higher in spirits.

"Tibia honest, it's 'cause I know it gets to you. I like ribbing you." She said, teasingly with some overused skeleton puns.

Nonetheless, Alex fell back onto his bed as he laughed, making Lynsie's smile brighter. 'At least someone seemed to be raised right!' She thought.

She got up and stepped to the side a bit, pressing on Gaster's number. Two rings go by before he picks up.

"Yo, Gaster. The kid's awake." She informed him.

* * *

The alternate Sans promptly appeared with Frisk, who immediately hopped onto Alex's bed and embraced him tightly, crying tears into his hospital gown as he apologized profusely.

The skeleton volunteered to stay, watch over the kids, and protect them, so Lynsie went out to the hallway to her two skeletons.

A few moments later, the three of them appeared outside of Gaster's lab, since the other Sans had told her that Gaster might be ready to fix the problem. As soon as they appeared outside, her Sans began to speak.

"so sweetheart, how'd your shortcut feel?"

"YES LYNSIE, I DIDN'T KNOW YOU COULD DO THAT?"

Lynsie shrugged with a sly smile, "I don't know guys… that stuff is top secret."

"AWWW, PLEASE LYNSIE! I'M A GOOD SECRET KEEPER!"

"c'mon lynn, no need to keep this to your bonesome self."

She let out a quick giggle at the pun, while Papyrus frowned and crossed his arms, "REALLY SANS, DON'T INTERRUPT HER WITH YOUR INSUFFERABLE PUNS!"

Sans shrugged, "my bad bro, i'll try tibia better about it."

"AHHHH, SANS!"

Lynsie full-on laughed now at their antics. She decided to interrupt them before Papyrus got upset, "I'm not entirely sure."

"huh?"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN?"

"Well, I'm not sure how I did it. I just… felt like I needed to. I imagined the closest hospital to us, thinking of that place, and then suddenly, Alex and I were in the main lobby." She explained.

"dang, can you still do it?"

Lynsie thought for a moment, imagining that she was on the inside of Gaster's lab, standing by the Soul Scanner. She opened her eyes, noticing that her surroundings have not changed. She frowned, "Dammit. Guess not." She said, unhappy.

Sans chuckled at her misfortune, "it was probably easier with the anomaly state…" He paused, smiling devilishly, "…maaaaayybeeeee if you're nice i could try to teach ya." He said, wiggling his nonexistent eyebrows.

Lynsie felt a bit of heat rush to her face before she forced it away, smiling back, "You better be as good of a teacher as you say you are then."

Sans chuckled and looked away for a moment, "no promises."

The three of them entered the main door to the lab. Once inside and past the now-deactivated Soul Scanners, they found everyone else in the main laboratory.

Both Gasters and Alphys stood there smiling at the three of them. Beside them was a device that Lynsie had never seen before.

It looked kind of like those 'portals' and 'gateways' that you'd see in the movies. It was an octagonal 'portal frame' with eight Soul-shaped hearts, one on each joint of the frame. Each one glowed a different color. Red, orange, yellow, green, light blue, blue, purple, and white. The most common seven human Soul colors and the color of Monster Souls.

The rest of the device consisted of nearby consoles and computers, with a large, external power cable that snaked a few feet behind it, before entering the ground. It was likely hooked into emergency generators in the basement, just in case something happens, it won't affect the power grid.

"Wow." Lynsie said, examining the impressive device from afar.

The alternate Gaster smiled with pride, **_"INDEED, PRINCESS."_** He said, nodding and motioning towards the device with his hand, **_"THE QUANTUM MULTIVERSAL ACCELERATOR, OR THE QMA FOR SHORT. THE PINNACLE OF MY LIFE'S WORK, EXCEEDING THAT OF THE CORE."_**

Her Gaster nodded in agreement, "✋ 👎 👎📬 ✋❄ ✋💧 ✈🕆✋❄ ✌💧❄ ✋💧 ✋ ❄ ✌❄ 💧🕆👍 ✌ 👎 ✞✋👍 🕈 😐💧📬 ✋ 🕈 🕆 👎'✞ 🏱 💧🕆💣 👎 ❄ ✌❄ 💣 ✡ 🕈 🕆 👎 👌 👎 👎 ❄ 💣✌✋ ❄✌✋ ✠❄ ✌📫👎✋💣 💧✋ ✌ ✌❄ 🕈✌✡💧📬 ✌ 👎 ❄ 🕆💧 ❄ 👎✌ ✡ ✌ ❄✋ ✌👍❄ ✌💧 ✌ 👍✌❄✌ ✡💧❄✍ 🕈 😐 🕈✍" (INDEED. IT IS QUITE ASTONISHING THAT SUCH A DEVICE WORKS. I WOULD'VE PRESUMED THAT MORE ENERGY WOULD BE NEEDED TO MAINTAIN EXTRA-DIMENSIONAL GATEWAYS. AND THE USE OF THE LEGENDARY ARTIFACT AS A CATALYST? WHO KNEW?)

The alternate smiled, **_"EXACTLY. NEITHER DID I, UNTIL I TOOK THE FIRST READINGS FROM IT. I'D USED TO THINK IT WAS JUST SOME SORT OF GLASS BALL, BUT IT'S MUCH MORE THAN THAT. AS FOR THE POWER, YOU'LL NEED MUCH LARGER AMOUNTS TO MAINTAIN CONNECTIONS NONSTOP, BUT THE GENERATORS SHOULD WORK WELL ENOUGH TO GAIN ACCESS TO THE DAMAGED CODE."_**

"HELLO GASTER. HELLO OTHER NOT-GASTER. HELLO ALPHYS!" Papyrus said.

"hey, if the two of you are done stroking your own egos, we'd like to get the show on the road." Sans said, interrupting them too.

"I agree Gaster, I'd like to take care of this problem before any other things happen to the sky." Lynsie said, nodding in agreement with Sans.

Gaster nodded, sighing a bit, "✋ ✌🏱 ✋ 📪 ✋❄❄ 📬 ✋❄🕯💧 👌 💧 💣 ❄✋💣 💧✋ 👍 ✋ 💣 ❄ ✌ ❄ 💧👍✋ ❄✋ ✋👍 💣✋ 👎 ❄ ✌❄🕯💧 ✌ 👎 ❄ ✋ 💧 ✋ ✌✞ ❄📬" (I APOLOGIZE, LITTLE ONE. IT'S BEEN SOME TIME SINCE I MET ANOTHER SCIENTIFIC MIND THAT'S LEARNED THINGS I HAVE NOT.)

 ** _"YES, YES. SORRY PRINCESS."_** The alternate apologized too, **_"ANYWAY, WOULD YOU CARE TO EXPLAIN, DOCTOR ALPHYS?"_**

Alphys nodded, "W-we used comparisons of both versions o-of Frisk to find the inconsistencies. U-using this data, we determined the e-exact data points that have corrupted, and w-we can give you access to th-those points with the QMA."

"How? If I'm supposed to correct the corrupted data, how would the QMA help?"

 ** _"YOU SEE PRINCESS, WE'VE DISCOVERED SOMETHING. THE VOID BEYOND REALITY… IT HAS FULLY MERGED WITH OUR VERSION OF IT. THERE, THE CODE IS…"_** The alternate searched for the right words.

"❄ 👍 👎 ✋💧 💣 💧❄ ✌👍👍 💧💧✋👌 ❄ 📬 💣 💣👌 🕆 ❄✋💣 ✋ ❄ 💣📪 ✋❄❄ ✍ ✡ 🕆 ✌👎 🏱🕆 👍 👎 ❄ 🕈✌ ✌ 👎 💧 ❄ 👍 👎 🕈 ✋❄ 🕆❄ ❄ ✌ 💣✌ ✡ 💧❄✌❄ ✞✋💧✋ 📬" (THE CODE IS MOST ACCESSIBLE THERE. REMEMBER OUR TIME IN THE ROOM, LITTLE ONE? YOU HAD PUNCHED THE WALL AND SEEN THE CODE WITHOUT THE ANOMALY STATE VISION.)

Lynsie soaked in the information, nodding, "I see. If I go to the combination of Voids between both worlds, I can access the code directly, and fix it with my Anomaly State?"

"P-precisely!" Alphys said, smiling.

 ** _"AND WITH A FEW CHANGES IN CALCULATIONS, WE CAN OPEN THE VORTEX DIRECTLY INTO THE VOID. NO NEED FOR GREY DOORS OR FALLING INTO THE CORE."_**

"hold up." Sans said, stepping forward and interrupting. "you want lynsie… to go to the void?" There was silence for a split second. "i'm sorry g, but are you insane?!"

Papyrus nodded, "I AGREE! SURELY, THERE MUST BE A SAFER WAY TO FIX THIS!"

The two skeletons stepped forward, making a barrier between Lynsie and the three scientists. "❄ ✋💧 ❄ 🕈✌✡📪 ✌ 👎 ❄✋💣 ✋💧 ❄ 💧💧 👍 📬 ✞ ✡ 🕆📪 💧✌ 💧📪 ✌ 👎 ❄ ✌❄ 🕈 💧 🕆 👎 👎 ❄ ✋💧 ✈🕆 ✋👍😐 ✡📬" (THERE IS NO OTHER WAY, AND TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE. EVEN YOU, SANS, AGREED THAT WE SHOULD DO THIS QUICKLY.)

Sans shook his head, "don't turn this on me, g. that was before you told us your planning on sending her there."

The alternate Gaster stepped forward, **_"SANS, I GUARANTEE YOU THAT SHE WILL BE FI-"_** He was interrupted by Sans' left eye bursting into flames.

"👍 💣 🕈📪 💧✌ 💧📬 💧🕆 ✡📪 ❄ ✋💧 👎 ❄ 💧 ❄ ❄ ✞✋ 👍 📬 ✡ 🕆 ✌✞ ❄ ✞ ✋✞ ✌ 👍 ✌ 👍 ❄ 💧🏱 ✌😐 💧 📬" (COME NOW, SANS. SURELY, THERE IS NO NEED TO RESORT TO VIOLENCE. YOU HAVE NOT EVEN GIVEN HER A CHANCE TO SPEAK FOR HERSELF.)

Lynsie nodded, using her arms to push the skeleton wall before her apart. "I'm going to do it."

"Th-the chances of her getting hurt are n-no higher than her chance of getting injured when sh-she fought Alex." Alphys tried to helpfully add to calm Sans' nerves.

"BUT LYNSIE LOST OVER HALF HER HP!" Papyrus countered, making Alphys shrink back behind the two Gasters.

 ** _"SANS. PAPYRUS. THIS IS HER CHOICE. THERE IS LITTLE CHANCE OF ERROR HERE. DON'T YOU BELIEVE IN HER?"_** He asked, raising an eyebrow.

Sans' flaming eye extinguished as his dropped his gaze, "yeah. of course i believe in her, but…"

Lynsie wrapped Sans in a firm, comforting hug, "I'll be fine Sans. Just in and out."

Sans wrapped his arms back around her and nodded, "o-ok."

Papyrus joined into the embrace, transforming it into a group hug, "BE CAREFUL LYNSIE!"

She nodded, "I will. I promise."

That seemed to reassure Sans a bit. A few moments later, they broke up their hug as a light pressure wave hit all of them.

Looking forward once more, a black and white swirling vortex of ones and zeros floated within the QMA structure. She looked to both Gasters, who nodded at her.

 ** _"PRINCESS, IT IS READY WHEN YOU ARE."_**

" 💣 💣👌 📬 😐 ❄ 👎✋💧❄ ❄ 👎📪 👍 🕆🏱 ❄ 👎 👍 👎 📬 ✋❄ 💧 🕆 👎 ✌🏱🏱 ✌ ✌👌 💣✌ ✌ 👎 ✌🏱✋👎 ✡ 🕆 👍❄🕆 ✌❄✋ 📬 🕆 💧 ❄ ✌ 💣✌ ✡ 💧❄✌❄ ❄ 👍 👍❄ ❄ 👍 👎 📬" (REMEMBER. LOOK FOR THE DISTORTED, CORRUPTED CODE. IT SHOULD APPEAR ABNORMAL AND RAPIDLY FLUCTUATING. USE THE ANOMALY STATE TO CORRECT THE CODE.)

She nodded and stepped toward the vortex, staring at it and taking in its unnatural beauty. She chanced a glance back to both of her lovers, who smiled lovingly towards her. Yet, she knew that deep down, beneath their happy exteriors, they'd be worrying about her until she returned.

Well, better not keep them waiting then…

She turned back towards the QMA, took another step forward, and jumped in.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note:**_

 _ **So, Alex is doing a bit better, Frisk is ecstatic, and Lynsie is going to repair the damages done to their two timelines, stopping the convergence and allowing the alternates to return home to PureTale. I hope you liked the chapter, and I hope you look forward to next time!  
**_


	15. Ones and Zeroes

**Remember: Spoilers for Undertale, my story, and R.I.P Lynn's are contained within this story. **

**If you'd rather not be spoiled in any of those three ways, please stop now and go read the other stories or play the game. (It's worth it!)**

 **If you need another reminder/overview of either of our stories, please go back to chapter one or two to check them out.**

 **Thanks again to R.I.P. Lynn for making this possible.**

 **Now, time to check on everyone!**

* * *

 **Chapter Fifteen:** Ones and Zeros

Reality shifted and cracked as the world around Lynsie got darker. It was dark, then darker… even darker.

The familiar dark room in the Void materialized around her, except it wasn't just like how it once was. Instead, it looked deformed and much larger. A nearby corner of the room was destroyed, leading into a vast sea of numbers. The grey door was not present, meaning the only way to go would be through that hole in the room.

Beyond the room was a solid black floor made of the oily darkness that would allow her to safely traverse the sea without getting lost, so she began.

Lynsie stepped out of the room and onto the dark path, watching in wonder at the sea of numbers that comprised and controlled the world... No, controlled both worlds. The display of numbers was almost overwhelming for Lynsie, her mind finding it harder to process the raw information without the aid of her Anomaly State.

She stopped her walking and took a deep breath, focusing on her Soul, which appeared and floated before her. She concentrated on it, feeling the power of her Anomaly Status build up and flow through her.

As previously, her Soul lost its singular color of purple as it was overcome by the other colors. A swirl of colors, including silver now, took hold of her Soul as her irises became an unnatural but pretty purple.

She breathed out in relief, "T́h̨a͡t͏'s̀ b͡e̛tte͘r͢." She said to herself, smiling since the dull pain of her mind overloading had calmed down.

She continued walking, looking left and right as she followed the path. The ones and zeros looked different now. She could actually interpret what some of them were. They seemed to be images… memories from both timelines. It was almost like walking down a physical memory lane. That is, if half the memories weren't yours.

To her right, she saw a still image of herself, reaching out towards a large crystal. She and her target were hanging over a large dark hole. She recognized this moment. This was when she was collecting crystals for a living… right before she fell into the Underground and everything changed.

She continued walking and looked to her left. Next, the numbers formed an unknown image to her. She saw Alex and Papyrus, standing side by side in a blizzard. Before them stood Grillby, except his flames were various shades of grey, rather than orange. Two Gaster Blasters floated on each of their sides as jets of flames impacted them. They were there protecting Alex… from Grillby?

He must've been under Gaster's control at this time. Lynsie had never seen Grillby physically fight like this, so it almost frightened her to imagine the power that the bartender kept hidden.

As she continued, she noticed another image on her right. She was fighting Mettaton EX on stage, singing back and forth with him. There was a bit of a nosebleed on her in the image. It was the first time she'd seen him like this… This teasing battle was intense, to say the least.

She looked to the left once more and saw a new foreign image. It showed a towering, powerful version of Gaster, with six Human Souls in his possession. Standing before him was Frisk and Alex. The former wielding the worn dagger, the latter wielding his signature sword, the Clavicle. In the background was Sans, Papyrus, Alphys, and Undyne, all trapped within a magical suspended cage, watching them fight. The battlefield appeared to be Snowdin, but darkness distorted the background, making it hard to tell.

She shuddered, thinking about someone like Gaster absorbing that many Souls. He might mean well, and he doesn't seem to be exactly that same as he once was… but still, she'd rather not have to encounter that.

Next up, she saw two images clashing with one another. It flashed, showing Lynsie fighting against Asriel Dreemurr, the god of hyperdeath. A moment later, it flashed and Lynsie was replaced with Alex and Frisk, with a floating, ghostly Chara standing beside Frisk. The two versions of the fight clashed with one another, trying to stay and force the other one away.

She quickened her pace, only glancing at a few images as she continued forward.

Alex dancing with Undyne, dodging laser fire from Mettaton at Waterfall, who was in his NEO form.

Lynsie's encounter with Sans at the Ruins door. Exchanging jokes with one another.

Alex and Frisk dancing with one another, with Chara dancing with an unknown skeleton monster to the side of them in some sort of dance hall. A school dance, perhaps?

Her date with Sans in Waterfall, with the light from the gems shining down upon them.

Alex in a house similar to Sans and Papyrus' old one, waking up Frisk, whose irises were pink. The power looked to be out.

Lynsie's broken form laying at the mercy of Flowey, who'd just broken her legs. Toriel running towards her in the distance with her paws aflame.

Alex with cuts and bruises, dragging a mortally wounded Undyne towards an elevator in the Core that would lead to New Home.

Darkness surrounding Lynsie as she faced off with Chara in her Soul, trying to reclaim control over it.

The Clavicle sticking deep into Alex's chest. His enemy being a doppelganger of him, smiling mercilessly at him.

Finally, the images began to stop as she reached another room. It was larger, and the walls were lined with Code. The oddest part about this room was that it wasn't empty.

It appeared to be in the shape of a laboratory, with tables and a QMA-like device formed from the numbers in the room. Standing in the center of the room was a man with short brown hair. He wore a pair of dark blue jeans and a red polo shirt. Both of his eyes were closed as he faced towards her. In fact, it WAS a man, not just an image of him, or strings of code like the rest of the room. He was actually there.

However, what was even stranger was his Soul. Floating outside of the man's body was a pulsing, brilliantly shining gold Soul. Didn't the alternates from the other timeline mention golden Souls? Creativity? Was that the name? Sounds about right…

She stared at the man as he took deep, controlled breaths. The aura of his Soul extending into the Code, doing… something to it…

After a moment, Lynsie broke the silence of the room, trying to get the man's attention.

"Wh͢o'͘r͘e͜ ̢ỳo̢u?̡" She asked.

He recoiled as his eyes shot open. The man lost his balance and fell backward, onto his butt as he let out a quick yelp of pain. "Ah!" He raised his right hand to his heart as he tried to calm himself.

He stared up at Lynsie from his position, tilting his head in confusion as he looked her over. "Wh-what the f-." He shook his head, "Who're you?"

She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes a bit at him, "I ąs͞ke͝d fi͏r͡s̀t,̵ ̶s̴ir. You ̀a̶nswe̛ŗ.͘"

The man sighed, "Fine." He stood back up, extending his right hand towards her for a handshake, "Jordan Sower." He told her smiling warmly despite his previous surprise.

She hesitated for a moment before taking his hand and shaking it, "͘L͘y̸n͘şi̵ę ͏D͏ree͜m̶urr͡."͠

"Nice to meet you, Lynsie. Dreemurr, eh? You must be from the other timeline, like Core mentioned." He said, thinking for a moment.

"́Şor͝r͜y̢ if t͏his҉ is ̸a͡ biţ ̷bl̷u͢nt,͏ but͝ ̢h͞ow̸ ̵th͠e͠ ͏he̷ll͘'d̛ y̴ou gèt ̛h̴er͞e?̵"

"Oh… yeah…" He said, looking around at his surroundings, he shrugged, "I'm not sure. I think when I was trying to calm the FUN values, the timeline was weak enough to allow my consciousness to connect to the Void."

͢"͟Where are you͟ r͢ig͞h͞t n͞o̢w?͢ I͟n̶ yo̡u͏r̢ wo̢rļd, I̸ ̨mean̕.̨"

"I'm in Gaster's lab. Or I was… am? Not sure how this works. I feel like I'm both in the Void and in the Lab… it's weird."

She nodded, understanding the feeling. ̢"̛W͜ha͜t͝ ̕e͢xàc͢tly̷ ar͜e̶ y̕o̸u͘ ͠do͠ing ̷he̢re͞?͜"

He smiled, "Well, you see, an associate of ours informed us that if we tried to connect to your timeline again, it'd cause some massive issues, so we've decided against it."

"͞Wòw̢, r̶eal̸ly̕? At l͝east͘ ͟w͜e ̷d̀on't҉ ̛nee̴d ̵to͡ w̶or͝r҉y҉ ͞abou̵t that͏...͏"

He nodded, "Precisely. Anyway, we were also informed that stuff was going down over there, so I decided to help in any way I could." He motioned towards his Soul, "Creativity. It gives me control over a large portion of the timeline. In essence, I'm a 'writer'. I could 'write' reality and help guide it onto the right path." He informed her.

She motioned towards her own, visible Soul, ͟"It͝'̀s ̵l͞i̴ke̴ ̀m͏ý A̸no̢maly ̸St̛ate, ͞then? ̴Ab̡l̨e ͟to chan͜g̸ę t́he͠ way t̵h̛e ͘w͡or͝l̷d̕ wo͝r͡k̴s?͝"͟

He shrugged, "Kind of. Based on what I've been told about your Soul, you can directly change things, including renewing the timeline. However, my process is more gradual. If I want widespread change, I need to work at it slowly, changing variables to help shape the natural flow of the 'story' into its desired form."

"Intere̛s̕ti͡n̸g." She said quietly, "̶W͠h͜at́ ̡aboùt ͏other̢ ti͞mèl̴ine͠s a̧n͡d wor͏ld̴s?̴ ҉Can ̡you a͞f͞f̡e͢ct́ ͟t͟ho͡se̡?"̴

He shook his head, "Unfortunately, no. My Creativity is limited to my own world, or 'Code'. However, with the temporary joining of our worlds, I've been able to influence yours as well." He motioned to his surroundings, "During your encounter in the other world, which I was able to watch from here, you noticed that changes in the sky, right?"

She frowned and nodded, ̧"̡Wh̕o ̸d̛i̢dn'́t?͞ T̢he ͞publ̶i̕c͞ is̨ ͘d͜e͏m҉a͞nd҉ing ҉a̶ns̵w̸e͢rs.͝"

He smiled awkwardly, scratching the back of his head, "I-I apologize." He said.

"Wh͜a̛t?͜!͜"

"Y-you see…" He said, "Part of it was my fault."

She took a more defensive stance, speaking a single word, ̵"̡Why?̛"҉

He bowed his head a bit, "It was the only thing I thought I could do." Her frown lessened a bit, waiting for him to elaborate, which he did. "You see, that fight was tearing apart both realities. The FUN values were changing every few nanoseconds. Neither world would've lasted the fight had I not intervened."

"̕W̨hat͏ ̨are҉ ỳou҉ ta̸l͘ki͏n̴g ̨ab̢out?͝"

He sighed, "The strain was focused on that field. You've seen the diagrams of gravity on TV and stuff, right?" He asked, "Where it'd show a fabric before they placed an object onto it to show its 'gravity'. Then, they'd put another ball down, and it'd be 'caught by the gravity' and approach?"

She nodded, "Well, imagine that 'dip' in gravity centering on that field by Mt. Ebbot, except that the dip was so massive that it threatened to tear the fabric apart. That was reality." Her eyes widened in shock, "And every moment that you all fought… the fabric grew closer to shredding."

"͝S̡o yoư ̶lig͞h҉t͏ened ̴the͡ w̷e͡íght͢, ̢spread̀in͠g͏ ͟o͘ut t̸he͡ b̀urd̴e͢n̷?̸"̶ She concluded, to which Jordan smiled and nodded.

"Exactly. I forced the unstoppable FUN values to begin affecting other bits of code, forcing bleed overs of the night sky for both our worlds. Doing so, there was less resistance and strain on our interconnected fabrics of reality." He paused, shrugging and frowning, "I mean, I probably could've tried to redirect them toward something less noticeable, but to be fair… I was panicking."

She nodded, no longer seeing Jordan as a threat, "̀I s̢ee͢, T̀h͝at̵ m͢ake͜s̡ ̡şe͢ņse̷.̶ So wha͜t ar̕e͠ you̕ d̷o̸ing͠ h͏e̸r̕e͏ ͏now͡?"̢

"Well, I've been working for the past several hours to try to pinpoint the exact problem that caused this whole mess. The origin of our convergence… And I found it about an hour ago."

He motioned to his side, showing deformed strings of numbers on a nearby wall. The numbers, unlike the rest, weren't just ones or zeros… there was Xs in there as well. Which didn't make much sense. The Xs numbered the combination of ones and zeros perfectly in a 1:1 ratio.

"̴What̶ ͘the hell h̴appe͝n͝ed̛ to͘ ̧th̢ós͜e n͝um͟b̵e͡rs҉?"͡ She asked, staring at them.

Jordan nodded, standing beside her now as they both looked at the Code, "Beats me. If I had to guess, the barrier around your world interpreted our connection to your timeline as a virus. If that's the case, it might've begun to go haywire, trying to forcibly stop the connection, which caused bleed-overs, escalating FUN values, and some sort of 'glitch'."

They both stood in silence, staring at the odd numbers. Also, instead of being black or white numbers, they appeared to be red. Or, the Xs were, at least.

"As I said, I found the issue about an hour ago, bringing myself and this room to its location. However, I am unable to fix it…" He said, frowning.

She looked at Jordan with confusion, "Wh̵a̢t̨ happ͜en͢ed?̷"

"I attempted to use my Creativity to mend the problem. However, I'm not used to working on this… level, I guess. But… with you here now, and with your Anomaly State, as you call it, you might be able to fix it."

She stared at the strings of numbers and letters for a moment, silently scanning them and looking them over. She felt a quick tug at her Soul from the Anomaly State.

"͠W͜ARNÍǸG: IN̸S͢UF͜F̨I̵ĆI͞E͠N̛T̷ ͏DAT̀A ͢FO͘R͢ ĆO̷RE C͘ODE ͠R͘EC̵O͝N̕STR͞UC̶TION̵."̷

"Damn, that's even creepier in person." He commented, "Insufficient data? You're missing something?"

She nodded, "̛Ít ̢see̶m̷s͟ ̷that ͝t̶he͞ cod̴e͡ b͘eįng ̕affec̸te̕d̀ ̢is ͟jum̕b̕l҉ed̛ ͢t̕ogęth̡e͜r̢ witḩ ͟p̛ie̸c͠e̕s͡ ͜f͟ro͝m my t͞imeli͢ne͢ a͏n̨d ̢you̴r͞s. I ca̕n ba͟re͏ly ͡m̵ak͘e҉ ҉out muc̢h̶ of ͘i͏t.̕..̷"

"Wait, you can actually make out some of it?" He asked, "It's only red Xs and errors for me."

"͏Ręalļy? Hm͜m..̡.͘" That was interesting. She suddenly got an idea. If she couldn't correct the issue now, but she could actually make out part of it… maybe she could figure out what she needed.

She focused on the numbers that she could make out. After a few moments, like earlier, an image began to form. However, unlike the other images, only about half of it formed, with the rest of the image being a glitch display.

The part of the image that she could make out showed a combination of Soul Trait colors. It was… It was her Soul! It was the Anomaly State Soul, that's half of the answer. She began to try to click things together and solve this puzzle.

The error-ridden section of the Code focused on two different things: Her Anomaly State Soul, and an Unknown variable. If this section of the Code was error-ridden, then the other half of the problem was likely related to her Soul. Think… the error must have originated when the timelines began to overlap, which would've been when the Code tried to connect similar pieces from both timelines. That's why the alternates were scanned without issue unless they were scanned while she did the same with one of her own…

And Alex… his scan had issues because there was nothing to compare it to. Now… What was something related to the Anomaly State that she hadn't Scanned yet?

Wait… not related… similar! What's similar to her Anomaly State that she hadn't scanned yet, but it also different enough to cause an error as the code tried to forcibly combine the two?

She turned to Jordan with a look of realization on her face. He, however, looked at her, confused.

"What is it?"

"I fi͟g͏u͜r̕ed ̸it̨ o͝u̶t͘!͞ I̧ k͡now ̡what͞ I͜'̡m ͡mis͡s̢i̴n̢g!"̧

"What?!" He asked, before he saw what she was looking at. "My Soul?"

͟"Wh͢en̷ th͜é t̢imelin͡e͏s̡ ͜b̶éga̧n ͟t͏o conv̕er͡ģe,́ ͞t́he ̨c̷od̴e̸ must'́v͜e trie҉d̵ t̨o̡ combine ҉inconsi͜ste̡nc̡i͝eş, ̧b̴ùţ ̶wi̢th t͞h́e ͟Ąn̛o̸maly͞ Sta̢t̢e ̀a͟n̨d͞ C̸re̵a͢tivi̶t͏y ̛b̵ei̸n̸g̸ ̵s̛o si҉m͝il͝a̡r yèt so dif҉f͠e͠ren̢t̶, ͏i͝ţ m̷u͠st̶'v̴e͜ ̕att̡e͠m̶p҉tèd ́t͟o c̛om͜bi͏ne t̵he҉ ̕two.̢ B̨út why͡?̨ S͡h̛ould͢n'͘t ̨th̕é A͞n̸òma̴ly ͏S̷ta͢t̕e ͜b͢e̸ abl̀e͝ t͜o ưse ͠Cr̶ea͘t͡iv̡it̷y ͝íf̨ Į s̨ca͡nn̸e̡d̛ it?"

"That's it!" He exclaimed, turning towards her, "Creativity is unique to Creativity Souls. Not even Alex with his Purity could absorb my power!" He told her, "If Purity cannot do it, then it might be safe to assume that you cannot either. And if you cannot, then the Code would've likely encountered the same problem… But then… how do we solve this problem?"

"̡Then ma̡y̡be̢ ju͏s̶t ́h́a̶v̡i̴ņg ̕tha͞t͝ ͢d͠at͏a w͞i͏l̛l s͡u̶f͏fi̧ce. Al͝l͟ow me͏ t̸o ̶S͡C͏AN̵ ̸y͡ou.̢"̕

Jordan looked confused, but nodded, "Alright, go ahead."

Lynsie took a deep breath and concentrated on Jordan Sower's Golden Soul.

"CƠM̛ME͠N̵CING̕ FǪRE̷I͞G͡N҉ ͞CƠDE S̢C̡AN͝."

̨"͞E̷R̨RO̢R: ̛DA͠TA҉ IS CO̢R͘R͢U͠PTED.͝ ͢FURT̡H͟E͢R ̢SC͝AN̷N͡IN̕G̴ NOT R̢E͡C͢OMMEND̴E̢D.͏"̷  
͜  
The Anomaly State was not liking this data. "C͞'̸mon͞... s̢can i͝t̀!̡" She pleaded, forcing herself to continue despite all of the resistance. Then, she got an idea. If scanning it like this wouldn't work, then maybe Safe Mode would be better. She focused and forced her Soul to slow down… to try to work in Safe Mode…  
͘  
͟"̸SA̛F͘E͢ MƠD̕E:͢ ̨O̷N̸L̕I̛N̛E̢." Yes! Finally! Now she could try again.

"SC̡A͘NNI̕N͟G ̡FOREIG͟N̷ CODE.͢.̨." So far so good.

"͡S͜C̷A̶Ń C̛OMPLET̸E.́ ͝FILE D̡E͞SI̢G̛N͢AT̸I͢ON͜:͝ CR̡EA͝T̨IV͏I͘T̀Y̷.̧" And there it is.  
͝

Jordan stared at her in amazement, not knowing what to say. That's when she spoke again.

"WARNING҉:̸ FIL̷E NO̵T͡ ĆOMP͞ATIBLE.͟ ͏C͞AUT̸I͞O̢N A͘D̨V͘I̴SED.̡ ATTE̶MP͟T͝E̕D̵ ͘U͡S͏E OF̕ F̡ILE͝ ͜I̴S NOT ͠RȨCO҉MMEND͞ED A̵S̨ ̢I͢T MÀY ͡C̵AUS̕E҉ SY̵S̸TEM̧ CRASH."

Jordan looked a bit worried, but nodded, "It's as I figured. Your 'Anomaly State' is not fully compatible with my Creativity. It makes sense though… if your Soul could take on Creativity, it'd function like a feedback loop…"

"̕L̕uc̢ki҉ly,̡ ̕I ̷d̛on̵'͏t th̴i͝n̸k ̶I'͢l̨l҉ ̡have tó d͟o̧ t̴hat̕..̕." She spoke, pointing towards the damaged code.

"What? It still looks the same to me." He told her.

She shook her head, "But for͏ ͠m͘e͘...̸ I̢ ̵c̡a͡n ̨see all ͢of it̢!"̡

She paused for a moment as she eyed the display carefully, "͠I'm̡..̕.̡ ̧I'̧m ͢g͡o͞ing͠ ̡to͢ ̛tr͡y ́it̛!̛"

Jordan Sower nodded, "Good luck, Lynsie."

She stepped forward, watching the ones and zeros as they formed the full image. It was a glitched display of a fusion between the Anomaly State and Creativity. The 'fusion' appeared unstable and deadly, which probably meant that attempting to fuse them would not end well for anyone.

She walked forward, now stopping just before running into the numbers. She knew Safe Mode wasn't going to work here… She'd need to be at full power to fix this mess.

She concentrated and took a deep breath, ͜"̡S̶AFE MO͘D̷E: P̨O͘ẀERING͏ ҉DƠW̴N͞.͘"

Now at full power and strength, she focused on the Code, trying to figure out how to go about solving this issue.

"C͡ơnflic͝t̵i̸ng ̸cod̶e ̶d̢e̷t͜e̡c͏ted.́..͘ Two̷ d͟istinct C͟o̴ŗe C̛ód̢es d̨etec̨te̕d.̛.̡. ̶Creat̕i̕v͜ity͝ Code an̷d̡ ̢A̷no͢ma҉ly͜ Cod́e ͞dètect̢e͞d.͞ ̴WA͜RNIN̶G:͡ ͢E͟x͜t̛e͘nsive ͜File҉ dęg̀radat͠ioǹ h̴a͞ş oc̶cu͢rred."̀

"Damn, sounds like you're getting somewhere though." Jordan said from somewhere behind her.

She ignored Jordan as Lynsie continued to focus on the jumbled, damaged code. "B̛egi͘n̕ning͝ ̀Cor͢e Còd̢e͏ ̀S̷e̴p͘arát͜i͏on."̸ She said, holding out both hands towards the code.

After a moment, both of her hands made contact, before diving into the series of numbers. It almost appeared as if she was preparing to forcibly separate the Core Codes apart. Pure energy from Lynsie's Soul poured into the numbers as it began to untangle the mess. Slowly but surely, the code seemed to be morphing and stretching in her grip. That's when she spoke again.̀  
͟  
"E̢r͟ro͘r:̕ In̨su͏ff͞icient Cr͝eativ͜íty to f͡ul͞l͟y r͝e̢m͘ove C͡o͘r̷e̕ Code.̷"

Jordan's eyes widened as he stepped forward, "Guess it's my turn now…" He said, before reaching a single arm out towards the code, focusing on the red Xs in his vision, before sending out a slow beam of golden energy. The Creativity entered the code and began to be absorbed into it. Almost half of the numbers began to glow a soft gold color.

She nodded and smiled at Jordan, "Súf͟fi҉ci҉e͝n͝t ͞Cre̕ati͟v́it̶y ̸detéc͠ted.̨ ̢S̵epe̕r̨at͡ion̕ pr͠oc̢es͟s:͟ C͡o͘nt҉i̡nuìǹg͢.̧"̨ ̷

The Code began to physically bend and stretch as the numbers untangled themselves. They began to stream slowly in opposite directions. Creativity to the right, Anomaly to the left.

"Fi͝l̀e͠ r͞es͝t͟o͜r͞at̨ion ̢aţ 5̨0% co͠mplet̨ion.̴"̕

The Xs began to change to numbers in Jordan Sower's vision as she said this. He watched on in amazement as the errors began to diminish and disappear.

̢"͢90%"

Jordan watched at the almost fully separated codes began to take the shapes of Souls. The on the right began to look much like his Soul, while the one on the left took on the appearance of Lynsie's Soul, with the rainbow of colors swirling around within it.

"F̕ile R͝es̕t̡oratio͢n͏ C̢o̡m͞p̛ĺét̛e͜.͘ ͟C̕re͡a̵t͟i͝vity ͏an͜d ̧A͏no̷m͡a͘ly҉ Core Cod̢es͠ a͘re f͏ull̷y r̸es̛toŗed.̶"҉

"Alright! Way to go Lynsie!" Jordan cheered as the code fully untangled itself.

Lynsie smiled and pulled her hands back, releasing the core codes from her grasp. She did it. She finally did it. The two timelines are no longer interconnected.

"Ahh!" Jordan Sower grunted as he fell to his knees, clutching his Soul, which was dimming.

Lynsie rushed over to his side. "Jord͞an!͘ Ar̢e҉ ͟y̴o͘u͘ ͝a͠ļrig̡h̀t?̨" She asked, her voice filled with worry.

He grunted and frowned, looking up at her. He didn't respond at first, looking at her, before looking around the room. Suddenly, a vision of Alphys ran over to Jordan and began trying to help him up. Unlike Jordan, Alphys was not in the Void with them, however… Lynsie could still hear her speak.

"M-Mister Sower! What's wrong?"

Finally, he spoke, "L-Lynsie…" He said, voice filled with pain, "M-My Soul isn't meant to leave my t-timeline…" He told her. "P-Please… force me out of the Void…" He almost begged her, his Soul continuing to dim.

She nodded quickly, ̸"Alr̶i҉ght, ͏gi̛v͞e ͝me ̸a͞ ҉mo̧mèn͝t!̴ U͜mm.̡..̸" She said, trying to figure out what to do as Alphys spoke.

"Wh-what? Lynsie? Th-the Anomaly from the o-other timeline? Wh-where?!" She asked, looking around the lab in confusion.

Jordan's body began to flicker, before it disappeared fully, leaving behind his code. He was no longer in the Void… but his Soul was stuck partway into the Void.

She focused on his Soul, trying to remove it. It was as if it were stuck halfway in a closed door, trapping it both here and there simutaneously.

"E̡r̵ror̨:́ C̸od͝e ͘ca̶n̕no͞t̛ bȩ ̡r̴eḿov͘ed ̴r͞ęm͏o͟teļy. Req͠ưir̶e̕s ̡direc̨t ̨įnt̛e̴rfac̢e.͝"͘ She announced, ͢"Uhh͏h...". She was unsure what to do. Would she have to physically try to push his Soul? From what she understood about Souls, this might be quite painful for Jordan.

Jordan visibly frowned, "J-just do it! It'd hurt more to die like this!"

She nodded and reached out, the Anomaly State flooding her with energy as she prepared to try to push his Soul out of the Void.

The moment she made contact, two things happened. One: She realized that this WAS what she was supposed to do. She could feel the barrier between the Void and the other timeline. Two: Jordan began to scream in pain, his HP visibly dropping. Sure, his HP was pretty high at 100, but it was still quite concerning.

"AHHH!"

She did her best to ignore Jordan's screaming as she continued to push his Soul forward, through the tear in the fabric of reality.

Suddenly….

Boom, it was gone. His screaming stopped as he fell over on the ground, unconscious. His Soul was now out of the Void and floating above his chest, his HP at 75. Not too bad… but she'd rather not have to do that ever again.

Now that that was taken care of, she stood back up and walked back the way she came, reentering the vortex back to her timeline.

* * *

Lynsie stepped out of the Vortex within the QMA, only to be immediately picked up and have the life squeezed out of her by Papyrus.

"LYNSIE! THANK GOODNESS YOU'RE ALRIGHT!" He exclaimed, twirling her around, making her dizzy and disoriented.

"Whoa, whoa, easy there Papy." She said with a gentle smile, her Anomaly State no longer active.

He stopped spinning, allowing her to look around the lab in wonder. Both Gasters were staring at her, one in confusion and one in amazement. She couldn't tell which was which at the moment due to her spinning senses. Sans was standing right beside her and his brother, his eye sockets filled with relief.

"thank god. we were so worried about you lynn." He said, his voice a bit shaky with worry.

Lynsie smiled brightly, "Told ya I could do it! No need to worry."

" ✋❄❄ 📬📬📬 ✡ 🕆 🕯✞ 👌 🕆 💧📬📬📬" (LITTLE ONE… YOU'VE BEEN GONE FOR HOURS…)

 ** _"WE WERE WORRIED THAT SOMETHING HAD HAPPENED IN THERE."_**

"What?" She asked in confusion, before shaking her head, "I've only been gone for a few minutes, maybe thirty at the most."

Sans shook his head, "i'm afraid not, lynn." He said, "you've been gone for several hours."

"WE WERE SO WORRIED." Papyrus cried out, hugging her a bit tighter.

"E-easy Papy, I need to breathe."

"OH YES, SORRY." He apologized, putting her down.

"so, did you fix it?"

She nodded, "It's all better now. Jordan and I fixed the problem together."

 ** _"JORDAN? JORDAN SOWER? HE WAS THERE?"_**

Lynsie nodded, "Yes. Apparently, he was there trying to help fix it. Together, with my Anomaly State and his Creativity, we fixed the conflicting code and disconnected our timelines."

" 💣💣📬📬📬 🕈 🕯 ✌✞ ❄ 🕆 💧 💣 ❄ 💧❄💧📪 👌🕆❄ ✡ 🕆 💣✋ ❄ ✌✞ ✌ 💧 👍 👍❄ 👎 ❄ 👍 👎 💧 ❄ ✌❄ ✋ ❄ 📫👎 💣 💧✋ ✌ ❄ ✌✞ 🕈 🕆 👎 🕯❄ 👍✌🕆💧 ❄ ✋💧 ✋💧💧🕆 ✌ ✌✋ 📬" (HMM... WE'LL HAVE TO RUN SOME TESTS, BUT YOU MIGHT HAVE ALSO CORRECTED THE CODE ENOUGH THAT INTER-DIMENSIONAL TRAVEL WOULDN'T CAUSE THIS ISSUE AGAIN.)

"how long will that take, g?"

 ** _"IF I HAD TO MAKE AN ESTIMATE, PROBABLY A FEW HOURS."_** The alternate Gaster answered, **_"PRINCESS, WHY DON'T YOU AND YOUR TWO… SKELETONS GO INFORM EVERYONE ELSE? TELL THEM THE BIG NEWS."_** He asked, trying hard to ignore the fact that she loved both of his 'sons' in this timeline.

She nodded, "Sure, we can let them all know."

"c'mon lynn and paps, i know a shortcut."

"REALLY BROTHER? MUST YOU RELY ON THOSE SO MUCH? WHY DON'T WE TAKE A MORE SCENIC ROUTE?"

Sans shrugged, "sorry paps, but we should probably let everyone know as soon as possible."

"Let's go!" Lynsie said with a smile, before the three of them vanished.

Now, alone in the lab with an alternate version of Alphys and himself, the alternate Gaster let out a sigh and sat down in a nearby chair.

 ** _"I CANNOT BELIEVE THE PRINCESS HAS 'HOOKED UP' WITH BOTH OF MY SONS…"_** He muttered in disbelief.

"❄ ✌❄🕯💧 ❄ ✋ 📬 ✡ 🕆 💧 🕆 👎 ✌✞ 💧 🕈✋❄ ❄ 💣 ✋ 💧 🕈👎✋ 📬 ✋🕯 ✞ 👌 ✌👌 ❄ 😐 ✌❄ 💣✡ 👌 ❄ 💧 ❄ 💧✌💣 🕈✌✡ ✌ ❄ ❄ ✌❄📬📬📬" (THAT'S NOTHING. YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN HER WITH THEM IN SNOWDIN. I'LL NEVER BE ABLE TO LOOK AT MY BROTHERS THE SAME WAY AFTER THAT...)

The alternate Gaster froze, slowly turning towards the other Gaster in the lab, **_"WHAT?!"_**

Gaster simply chuckled, "👍 💣 🕈📪 🕈 ✌✞ ❄ 💧❄💧 ❄ 🕆 📬" (COME NOW, WE HAVE TESTS TO RUN) He replied, completely ignoring his alternate's question.

The alternate Gaster sat there a moment longer, trying to connect the dots and solve this 'puzzle'. That's when the horrifyingly accurate realization hit him. His eye sockets widened as his jaw fell open in shock.

H-his sons… doing THAT?!

He jumped up from his seat, **_"I DEMAND THAT YOU ELABORATE, DOCTOR!"_** He demanded angrily, only making his alternate chuckle at his expense, before returning his attention to the monitor before him.

* * *

 ** _Author's Note:_**

 ** _First, I'd like to apologize for this delay. I've been overcome with four different science classes in college(Cooleg), each of them assigning plenty of work and lots of exams. Finals are over now. though, so I've only know begun to have any sort of free time. This has caused a massive delay in my uploads, and I will likely be taking a small break after this story is completed._**

 ** _I feel like this chapter is mediocre, so I apologize for that as well. Anyway…_**

 ** _This crossover is approaching the end. Thanks for sticking around for all of this and I hope you've been enjoying this. Let me know how this was, and I look forward to completing this! HOpefully the next chapter will be up with a much shorter delay, though it may be a bit.  
_**

 ** _Special thanks to R.I.P. Lynn and the guest named_** ** _QueenKara671. I'm finishing this thing!  
_**

 ** _-swrWriter_**


	16. Making Friends and Sharing Stories

**Remember: Spoilers for Undertale, my story, and R.I.P Lynn's are contained within this story. **

**If you'd rather not be spoiled in any of those three ways, please stop now and go read the other stories or play the game. (It's worth it!)**

 **If you need another reminder/overview of either of our stories, please go back to chapter one or two to check them out.**

 **Thanks again to R.I.P. Lynn for making this possible.**

 **Now, time to check on everyone!**

* * *

 **Chapter Sixteen:** Making Friends and Sharing Stories.

Alex sat in the 'comfortable' hospital bed, staring up at the ceiling while lost in his thoughts.

Frisk laid with her face and chest on the bed beside him while also remaining in the seat beside him, fast asleep… but he couldn't fall asleep… not after everything that's happened.

The television did not interest him either.

On the news a few hours ago, the government came forward and claimed responsibility for the changing night sky. They revealed that they had a top-secret holographic projector that had been tested last night. They even released documents to the public, showing the specs of the device as proof that it works.

But he knew the truth… they were simply covering up what had truly transpired last night.

And speaking of last night still, they had also concluded that the explosion at the hospital had been the result of a prototype Soul-Reading device. 'Apparently', the prototype was being tested out in the hospital, before it encountered an error and exploded. Unlike the previous cover-up, this one seemed to be far less effective, but at least the public had some sort of answer for the time being.

And Alex, for sure, knew he wasn't fully off the hook.

Agents from the government came by the hospital earlier, watching everything closely… especially Alex. They didn't approach, nor did they try to talk to him, but he knew that they were making sure he didn't try anything else.

It made Alex wonder how much they actually knew.

He shook his head and returned to his earlier thoughts.

What Lynsie said… she was right… right?

He should talk to Frisk and everyone else about what happened. They probably had a decent idea about what happened to him… but not the full story…

He was jolted from his thoughts by a knock at the door. He turned just in time to see the door open, with three individuals stepping through. The alternate Sans, alternate Papyrus, and Lynsie, herself.

He frowned lightly as they entered, before forcing a smile on his face. Sure, Lynsie seemed to have forgiven him… but what about the two skeletons? Frisk had told him earlier about how she was in a relationship with both of the two skeletons. He'd bet they were pretty pissed off about what he'd done to Lynsie…

"GREETINGS, ALEX." The alternate Papyrus said, a large toothy grin on his face. His happiness was infectious, making Alex's fake smile turn a bit more genuine.

"Hey Alex, how're you feeling?" Lynsie asked, before noticing Frisk's sleeping form. She grinned, motioning toward her with her head, "You talk with her, yet?"

Alex shook his head, "Not yet…"

"hey kiddo, you feeling less murdery?" Sans asked with a grin, earning a quick glare from Papyrus.

"SANS! YOU CAN'T JUST GO AND ASK THAT!" He exclaimed, before clearing his throat despite not having one, "EHEM! HUMAN, WHAT MY BROTHER MEANS TO ASK IS, ARE YOU FEELING BETTER?"

Alex nodded, "Yeah…" He began, before he summoned his Soul forward, "My Soul is slowly recovering…" The grey Soul weakly pulsed a few times, before Alex brought it back inside of himself. There wasn't any black or pink in there anymore, so that was a plus. Sans paid close attention, studying the Soul while it was out.

"hmm, that's good." He began with his lazy grin, motioning towards the sleeping form of Frisk, "at least with her, you're not so bonely."

"SANS!" Papyrus exclaimed, stomping his foot down on the ground in mock rage, "ENOUGH OF YOUR TOMFOOLERY AND WORD PLAY!"

Alex couldn't help the chuckle that escaped him, making Sans' grin grow wider, "but the kid likes 'em. why, do ya got a bone to pick with my jokes?" Papyrus' smile began to grow strained.

Alex smiled and spoke, "C'mon Papyrus. You've gotta admit that they're humerus." Papyrus smile almost visibly twitched.

Lynsie grinned, joining in soon after, hugging Sans from behind, "Be nice to Papy, my skelepun." She turned to Papyrus, "Don't let them get under your skin, Papy."

Papyrus almost visibly relaxed, before he took a quick, sharp breath before yelling out in rage, "AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The three of them began laughing as Frisk began to stir from the noise. Papyrus turned to Alex, "I'M SO ASHAMED OF YOU, ALEX. YOU SHOULD BE BETTER THAN THEM!"

Frisk sat up and rubbed her eyes, "What's going on? I was sleeping…" After a second, she came to a quick realization, continuing, "I was bone tired." Papyrus sharply turned towards Frisk.

"NNOOOOOOOOOOOO! YOU HAVE ALL CORRUPTED OTHER FRISK!"

Lynsie took a step towards him and wrapped her arms around the tall skeleton, "It's alright Papy, we're just playing."

He calmed down a bit, but still sent a playful glare towards the other two, now laughing humans.

"Hey… why are you all here, anyway?" Frisk asked, fully awake now and no longer laughing but still smiling.

Sans answered, "just checking up on our guests. you should be able to head home tomorrow if there's no more unexpected delays."

That brought a huge smile to both of their faces, with Alex's being just that much wider. His face visibly flooded with relief.

"Good… good…" He said slowly.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, drawing everyone's attention. Lynsie smiled, "Come in."

Then entered another skeleton. The alternate Papyrus came in, still wearing his classic battle-body armor, with both arms behind his back. He had a large smile on his face.

"GREETINGS LYNSIE. HELLO OTHER SANS AND OTHER COOL GUY!"

"sup."

"Hey other Papy."

"HELLO COOL GUY NUMBER TWO!"

Frisk giggled, "Alright, are you two done stroking each other's egos yet?" She teased.

"NONSENSE. WE'RE JUST STATING THE OBVIOUS!"

"YES. HONESTY IS THE BEST POLICY AFTER ALL! NYEH HEH HEH!"

"THIS IS LIKE A DREAM COME TRUE, MEETING SOMEONE AS COOL AS ME!"

Lynsie couldn't help but laugh, "Yeah, but Chara's worst nightmare. I swear, he'd probably explode if he was here listening to this kind of conversation again!"

"I'd pay to see that." The alternate Chara said, walking in from behind Papyrus, before heading to her sister and sitting down, "How're you dorks doing?"

Frisk rolled her eyes, "We're fine, Chara."

Chara turned to both Papyruses… or would it be Papyri? Anyway, she interrupted their excited chat, "Did you forget what you came in here for, you bonehead?"

Both Papyruses frowned, "NOT YOU TOO, OTHER FEMALE CHARA!"

"OH YES…" Papyrus took in a deep breath despite lacking lungs, taking a step forward, "ALEX, SINCE WHEN YOU GOT HURT YOU BROKE YOUR SWORD, I DECIDED TO MAKE YOU ANOTHER! TADA!" He exclaimed, bringing his arms forward to show off the blade in his arms, drawing everyone's attention.

"Whoa…" Alex breathed out, staring at it.

It was another blade forged from Papyrus' magical bone attacks, forged in the form of a cutlass. The handle of the blade was forged of some sort of metallic alloy, with the grip made of some kind of rubber. The bone was a brilliant silver color, like Alex's Soul, and the handle was a gold color, while the rubber was a dark crimson.

Papyrus grinned, "I SEE. YOU ARE STUNNED SPEECHLESS FROM MY MAGNIFICENT, BRILLIANT CREATION. I AM NOT SURPRISED, NYEH HEH HEH!"

Lynsie stared at the blade with wide eyes, "Papyrus… you made this?" She asked, shocked.

He nodded, "OF COURSE! I'VE GOTTEN MUCH BETTER AT SHAPING AND FORGING MY BONE ATTACKS SINCE I CREATED THAT FIRST BLADE! I CALL THIS ONE, THE COLLAGEN! NYEH HEH HEH."

"hey other bro, what's that metal there?" Sans asked, pointing to the handle.

Chara smiled and stood up, "We got some of the magical alloy from Gaster for that. And before you ask about the grip, it _was_ regular rubber earlier, but with a bit of DT, it became nearly indestructible. And, as an added bonus, it's red, like my Soul!"

Frisk whistled, "Wow…"

Chara chuckled, "That's nothing, though. Right Papyrus?"

"YES! PLEASE, OBSERVE THIS NEW BLADE. 'CHECK' IT, IF YOU WILL! SEE MY MASTERPIECE WHEN USED!"

Alex, Lynsie, Frisk, and the other two skeletons observed the blade and 'checked' it. The stats soon shimmered into view.

 ***The Collagen +50 ATK +20 DEF (x2 against bone-based magic)**

 ***A bone sword forged from the finest of bone attacks. You are in awe of Papyrus' magnificence. It's very cool!**

Alex, Frisk, and Lynsie couldn't help but laugh at the description of Papyrus' blade. The skeleton brothers are stunned.

"WOWIE, THAT IS PRETTY COOL!"

Sans' eye sockets shined, "wow, not-bro, that's pretty cool." He nudged his brother, "bet you could do something like that if you tried."

"I…" Papyrus shook his head, "OF COURSE I COULD, BROTHER. WE'RE BOTH PRACTICALLY THE SAME COOL SKELETON! I JUST NEED PRACTICE!"

"I CAN HELP TEACH YOU!"

"WOWIE, REALLY?!"

"OF COURSE! ANYTHING FOR A FRIEND!"

Both Papyruses had shining eye sockets. Lynsie interrupted, "Papyrus… this blade is incredible. How'd you get so good at building these kinds of things?" She asked.

Papyrus beamed, excited to tell his tale, "WELL, WHEN ALEX FIRST CAME UNDERGROUND, JOURNEYING TO SAVE HIS SWEET PRINCESS FRISK…" He began, getting Frisk to hide her face as a blush appeared and getting Chara to nudge her in the ribs and fall over laughing, "I MADE HIM HIS FIRST SWORD, THE CLAVICLE. THEN, IN THE ABOVEGROUND WORLD, I WORKED ON SEVERAL SETS OF BATTLE BODIES FOR MY FRIENDS AND SIBLINGS!" He exclaimed happily.

"Papyrus…" Alex said slowly, finally getting over the shock of the gift and earning everyone's attention.

"YES?"

There were two small streams of tears running down his face as he wiped them away with a smile, "Thank you so much, Papyrus. It's awesome, just like you!"

Papyrus' smile somehow grew even larger, "OF COURSE, ALEX! YOU'RE VERY WELCOME!"

The room settled into a comfortable silence for a few moments, before Chara went ahead and broke it, "Bah, this is boring. We should be doing something!"

Sans chuckled, "sorry there, kiddo, but that's a no-go. your buddy, alex, here, is still healing."

"I HAVE AN IDEA." Papyrus said.

"EXCELLENT, WE'D LOVE TO HEAR YOUR MAGNIFICENT IDEA, PAPYRUS." The alternate spoke form Lynsie's side.

"THANK YOU, PAPYRUS. I WAS THINKING, WHY DON'T WE SHARE STORIES FROM OUR WORLDS WITH EACH OTHER TO PASS THE TIME?"

"THAT SOUNDS-."

"I agree!" Chara quickly shouted from beside Alex, interrupting the 'enlightening' conversation between the two Papyruses. "Why don't you start, Lynsie?" Chara asked, looking at her, "We'd love to hear about some of your adventures."

She thought this over for a moment, "Well… I guess. Let me think of one. Oh, I got it!" She exclaimed after a moment, "This one time, I went on a date with Mettaton at his resort back in the Underground…" She began.

* * *

 **"DOCTOR…"**

"✡ 💧✍" (YES?")

 **"AS FATHER OF SANS AND PAPYRUS, I DEMAND TO KNOW WHAT YOU ARE REFERRING TO."**

"✌ 👎 ✌💧 👌 ❄ ❄ 💧✌ 💧 ✌ 👎 🏱✌🏱✡ 🕆💧📪 ✋ 👎 🕯❄ ✌✞ ❄ 👎 ✌ ✡❄ ✋ 📬" (AND AS BROTHER TO SANS AND PAPYRUS, I DON'T HAVE TO DO ANYTHING.)

 **"I'M WARNING YOU…"** The kind doctor threatened, his eyes glowing as his magic bubbled to the surface in accordance with his emotional state.

"❄ 🕆💧❄ 💣 📪 ✡ 🕆 👎 🕯❄ 🕈✌ ❄ ❄ 😐 🕈📬📬📬" (TRUST ME, YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW.) His alternate responded with a smirk.

 **"I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW THAT I MOST CERTAINLY WANT TO KNOW!"**

The other Gaster shrugged from his terminal, "✡ 🕆 🕆 ✌ 📬" (YOUR FUNERAL.) He took a deep breath before elaborating.

 **"I'M WAITING…"**

"🕈 📬📬📬 ❄ ✡ 👎✋👎 ❄ 👎 👎📪 ✌💧 ✡ 🕆 👍 🕆 👎 💧✌✡📬 💧 🕆 ❄ 🕆👍 ✋ ✌ 👎 ✌ 📬" (WELL... THEY DID THE DEED, AS YOU COULD SAY. SOUL TOUCHING AND ALL.)

 **"WHA-…"** Gaster began as his white skull somehow grew paler. However, his alternate wasn't done.

" ✡ 💧📪 ✌ 👎 ❄ 👌 ❄ ❄ 💣 ✋ ❄ 💧✌💣 🕆 📬 ✋❄ 🕈✌💧 ✌👍❄🕆✌ ✡ ✈🕆✋❄ ✋ ❄ 💧❄✋ 📪 ✌ ✞ ❄ 🕈 ❄ 👎 👍🕆💣 ❄✋ 📬" (OH YES, AND TO BOTH OF THEM IN THE SAME HOUR. IT WAS ACTUALLY QUITE INTERESTING, AN EVENT WORTH DOCUMENTING.) He said with a knowing smirk, "👎 ✋ ✋❄✡ 💣✌👎 ❄ ✋ ✌❄ 🏱 🕆👎📪 ✍" (DEFINITY MADE THEIR FATHER PROUD, EH?)

Doctor Gaster's face was noticeably pale as everything began to sink in, his jaw hanging ajar as he tried to process all of this new, raw data. **"Y-YOU OBSERVED THIS?"**

" 💣💣✍" (HMM?) He asked, before he understood what his doppelgänger meant, " ✡ 💧📪 ✋❄🕯👎 👌 ✈🕆✋❄ ✌ 👎 ❄ ❄ ✋ 💣✡ 🏱 ✞✋ 🕆💧 🏱 💧✋❄✋ ✋ ❄ ✞ ✋👎📬" (OH YES, IT'D BE QUITE HARD NOT TO IN MY PREVIOUS POSITION IN THE VOID.)

Gaster took a seat in a nearby office chair, slowly lowering his head into his hands in shame, **"YOU COULD'VE LOOKED AWAY, DAMMIT!"**

"✡ 💧📪 ✋ 👍 🕆 👎 ✌✞ 📪 👌🕆❄ ✌💧 ✋ 💧✌✋👎 🏱 ✞✋ 🕆💧 ✡📪 ✋❄ 🕈✌💧 ✌ ✋ ❄ 💧❄✋ ❄🕆 ✞ ❄💧📬 ✞ 👌 ✌👎 ✋ 💧 💧🕆👍 ✌🕈 👎✋💧🏱 ✌✡💧 ✞ 👌 ❄🕈 ✌ 🕆💣✌ ✌ 👎 ✌ 💣 💧❄ 📬" (YES, I COULD HAVE, BUT AS I SAID PREVIOUSLY, IT WAS AN INTERESTING TURN OF EVENTS. NEVER BEFORE HAD I SEEN SUCH RAW DISPLAYS OF LOVE BETWEEN A HUMAN AND A MONSTER.)

 **"I THINK I'M GOING TO BE SICK."**

"👍 💣 🕈📪 ✌❄ ✌💧❄ 📪 💧🕆 ✡📪 ✡ 🕆 💧 🕆 👎 🕯❄ 👌 💣👌✌ ✌💧💧 👎 👌✡ ❄ ✋💧📬 ✌ ❄ ✌ 📪 🕈🕯👎 ✡ 🕆 💣✌😐 💧✌ 💧 ✌ 👎 🏱✌🏱✡ 🕆💧 ✋ ❄ ✋ 💧❄ 🏱 ✌👍 ✍ ❄ ✋ ✌ ❄ 💧❄ ❄🕆👌 📪 ✋🕯👎 ✋💣✌ ✋ 📬" (COME NOW, FATHER GASTER, SURELY, YOU SHOULDN'T BE EMBARRASSED BY THIS. AFTER ALL, HOW'D YOU MAKE SANS AND PAPYRUS IN THE FIRST PLACE? NOT IN A TEST TUBE, I'D IMAGINE.)

 **"IT'S NOT THE SAME."**

"👍 💣 🕈📪 👎 👍❄ 📬 🕈 ✋💧 ❄ ❄ ❄✋💣 ❄ 🕈✌ 🕈 ✌ 👎 👍 ✡📬 🕈 💣🕆💧❄ ✋ ✋💧 ❄ 💧 ❄ 💧❄💧 ✋ ✡ 🕆 🕈✋💧 ❄ ❄🕆 💣 📬" (COME NOW, DOCTOR. NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO WALLOW AND CRY. WE MUST FINISH THESE TESTS IF YOU WISH TO RETURN HOME.)

Reluctantly, Doctor Gaster slowly stood back up and approached his own terminal, preparing the QMA for a return voyage, **"I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO THINK ANYMORE…"** Gaster finally said, breaking the silence in the lab, **"PART OF ME WISHES TO PUNISH THEM, AND THE OTHER PART OF ME WISHES TO FORGET THIS ENTIRE CONVERSATION."**

" ✌ ✌ ✌📬" (HAHAHA.) The other Gaster chuckled, "👎 ❄ 🕈 ✡📪 👎 👍❄ 📬 👍 ✡ 🕆🕯 💣 📪 ✡ 🕆 👍✌ 👎 👍✋👎 🕈 ✌❄ ❄ 👎 🕈✋❄ ❄ 💣📬" (DO NOT WORRY, DOCTOR. ONCE YOU'RE HOME, YOU CAN DECIDE WHAT TO DO WITH THEM.)

* * *

"Wow, this is a first…"

"What is? Meeting yourself?"

"Nah, just meeting myself without entering a dual to the death." Undyne said, eyeing her counterpart as she leaned against a counter, still wearing her new armor.

"Damn, really? How was this other version of us?" Her counterpart asked, intrigued as she wore her own suit of armor. Surprisingly enough, the two Undynes were getting along quite fine. Alphys seemed to be eyeing the two of them nervously from her console as they conversed, worried that a 'duel to the death' might still occur.

"Edgey as fu-frick."

"Really? Self-censoring? What the hell's wrong with you?"

"Excuse me, fish stick, but I've been nearly fireballed one too many times by her royal majesty."

"Fish stick?!" Her counterpart angrily asked, glaring at her counterpart.

"Fuck. Sans' humor is rubbing off on me."

"That sucks."

"Yeah, it does! Anyway, she was obsessed with the color red. I swear, the whole world was filled with nothing but edgy Monsters."

"Sounds like you'd fit right in."

"Hey! I'm basically you, so you just insulted yourself, there, smartass."

Her counterpart scoffed, "Similar? Maybe. The same? Hell no! I'm superior in every way."

"And who got their ass handed to them by children?"

"Hey! Don't tell me the same didn't happen to you!"

"Yeah, maybe, but not up here on the surface!"

"Try again, I still don't see how I'm not the superior one, here."

Undyne paused, staring at her counterpart, before her good eye glanced at the alternate Alphys, who was desperately pretending that she wasn't eavesdropping into the conversation. Undyne couldn't help the grin that grew on her face, showing off her sharp teeth.

"Did you get the girl?" She asked, teasingly.

Her counterpart's cocky smile vanished ash her jaw hung open, "Wh-what?"

This response only made Undyne's smile grow, "Have you been with her long? I can tell… Yo, Alphys, get your tail over here!"

Alphys let out a cry of surprise, before her yellow scales on her checks turned blood red. Finally, she came over, standing by her Undyne, "Y-yes?"

"Tell me all about yourselves. I can tell you're together. First date? Who made the first move? Did Frisk force you two to suck it up and confess?" Undyne shot off her questions quickly, growing more and more entertained as the two lovers before her blushes grew.

"W-well, we…" Alphys started, before the other Undyne stepped forward.

"It's none of your damn business." She defended.

Undyne raised her hands in surrender, "Hey. It kinda is, since she's technically mine as well."

The alternate version of herself only frowned and glared at her, making the former head of the Royal Guard let out a laugh. "Alright. Then I'll start." She started, grinning triumphantly and straightening her posture, "Frisk started it all with her date with me, but you'll never guess who got everything going."

Now the two of them seemed interested.

"Wh-who? Was it Alex?"

"Yeah, I have money on Alex. Or maybe even Chara. Your version seems devious enough for it."

Undyne leaned back with a smirk, "Nope." She said, popping her 'p'. "It was the egghead, himself. Great ol' doctor Gaster."

Both the alternate Undyne's and Alphys' jaws dropped in surprise. "D-doctor Gaster?" Alphys asked in disbelief.

Her alternate spoke next, shaking her head, "I can't imagine that bag of bones doing anything like that."

"Oh, you better believe it!" Undyne smirked, "It was so weird. First, we were talking about all that timeline and anomaly shit after the timeline went back a ways. Our memories were back and we were conversing in Sans' and Papyrus' old place…"

* * *

 **{PureTale Universe; pre-barrier destruction. Back in the Underground.}**

 **"...BUT DUE TO MANY CHANGES, WE SEEM TO HAVE DEVIATED FROM THE NORMAL PATHS, LEAVING, EVEN ME, UNSURE OF OUR FUTURE… BUT I HAVE HIGH HOPES."** The newly revived Doctor Gaster said, expression filled with hope as he finished his thought.

Frisk spoke next, speaking innocently, "Wait, so you know of some of these 'alternate' scenarios? Do you have any advice for us, then?"

For some unknown reason to Undyne, Gaster's hopeful smile transformed into something… worse. It became devious as he made eye contact with her.

 **"UNDYNE… I'VE SEEN MANY THINGS FROM THE VOID…"** Knowing exactly what the skeleton Monster was alluding to, she looked away as a blush betrayed her. Then, he kept talking, confirming her fears, **"…SO, ABOUT ALPHYS…"**

On instinct alone, she jumped up from her seat in rage, forming dual magic spears as she threw three of them rapidly as Gaster. "GGNAAHHHHHH!" In a heartbeat, he vanished, allowing the spears to imbed themselves in the wall before her, leaving nice holes in the skeleton brothers' nice house, but she didn't care. She was simply enraged, "What the fu-!" She exclaimed.

Her sentence was ended prematurely as Gaster spoke from behind her, **"NO CURSING UNDYNE. NOT IN FRONT OF THE KIDS."** Looking towards the family in hopes of backup, her hopes were crushed with a motherly glare from Toriel.

Gaster took a few steps forward, approaching Toriel, Frisk, and Alex, whispering something to them, which Undyne could not hear. Slowly, he reached into his lab coat, pulling out an eerily familiar piece of parchment before giving it to Toriel.

"How the fuck did you get ahold of my le-" She began to ask/shout at the doctor, before she was abruptly cut off by Toriel's glare. Unfortunately, her day proceeded to get worse from there as Papyrus spoke up for the first time in a while.

"HEY SANS…" Undyne gulped loudly as she realized her mistake. Her gaze shot to Papyrus in fear, silently praying that he wasn't going to do what she thought he was. Then… he did, "WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? I'VE HEARD HER SAY IT BEFORE BUT WHAT DOES FU-."

Sans, as expected, cut off his brother before he could finish, _"hey bro, i think ya misheard her. she said 'freak'. like she 'freaked out' or she 'was going to have a freaking bad time'. ya know what i mean?_

Undyne quickly looked at Sans, staring into his pitch-black sockets as he stared back at her. The blue of her scales began to pale as she fought for the words she desperately needed to get out of this alive. She was, understandably, terrified. "Y-yeah Papyrus, I said 'freak'. You must have misheard me!" She silently pleaded.

After a single moment of silent contemplation, Papyrus' expression brightened as he nodded, "OH… OK, THANKS FOR CLEARING THAT UP UNDYNE!" He said, smiling innocently as Undyne gave off a sigh of relief. Dodged a blaster, there.

At that moment, Gaster decided to continue, **"ANYWAY, ARE YOU ALL READY FOR THE PLAN?"** Toriel covered her snout with a paw as she giggled, as Frisk and Alex smiled and nodded, all of them jumping off of the couch.

Toriel quickly approached her, grabbing her hand, "Alright Undyne, I think it's time we get you ready!"

Her face managed to pale even further, "R-ready for what?"

"For your date with Alphys, of course!"

All color drained from Undyne's scales as she was quickly led outside. She shot her coldest glare possible towards Gaster, to which he smirked like the smug bastard he was. From there, she was promptly taken by Toriel to prepare for her impromptu date with Alphys.

* * *

Both her alternate self and the other Alphys listened intently to the entire story. As Undyne told them, she has failed to notice that the pair of Gasters had found their way over and listened to it was well.

"…And from there, Toriel brought me to my house, preparing me for the date before bringing me to the lab."

"W-wow. That's some story." Alphys said, her eyes sparkling.

Undyne's alternate laughed, "FHUHUHUHUHUHU. That's hilarious. Not nearly as embarrassing as our story. Is that really true, though?"

 **"UNFORTUNATELY, SHE'S ACTUALLY TELLING YOU ALL THE TRUTH."** Doctor Gaster informed them, getting their attention and shocking the three of them.

"R-really?"

"No way."

The other Gaster smirked, crossing his arms as he turned to his alternate, "✋ 💣🕆💧❄ 😐 🕈 ✡ 🕆 ✌💧 ✋ 👌 ✋ 👎 ✡ 🕆 '👎✌❄✋ ' 💧 ✞✋👍 📬" (I MUST KNOW YOUR REASONING BEHIND YOUR 'DATING' SERVICE.)

Gaster smiled and shrugged, **"I FIGURED THE BEST COURSE OF ACTION WAS TO CHANGE THINGS UP A BIT. I'D PREVIOUSLY SEEN VERSIONS OF FRISK SET UP THEIR DATE, AND I KNEW ALL ABOUT UNDYNE'S LETTERS, SO I HAD ALL OF THAT TO MY ADVANTAGE."**

"Yeah, right, old man." Undyne said with a roll of her eyes, "You were getting a kick out of the whole thing, so I'm sure that wasn't your only reason."

To that, he smirked, **"I MUST ADMIT, WATCHING YOU AND ALPHYS INTERACT CAN BE QUITE ENTERTAINING."**

His alternate smirked as well, "✡ 🕆🕯 ❄ 🕈 ❄ 📪 👎 👍❄ 📬" (YOU'RE NOT WRONG THERE, DOCTOR.)

To this, Alphys and both Undynes began to blush. Both fish Monsters frowned, crossing their arms defiantly, while Alphys simply hid behind her claws. Both Gasters couldn't help but chuckle at this predictable reaction.

* * *

"…and then he said, 'I'm so proud of him!'." She continued, "It caught me so off guard. I figured he'd be angry at poor Blooky for stealing that first kiss, but he was proud of him."

"WOWIE, YOUR FIRST KISS WAS A GHOST. METTATON'S QUIZ SHOW MAKES SO MUCH MORE SENSE NOW!" Papyrus commented.

"Uhh, Papyrus, that didn't happen back home." Frisk helpfully pointed out.

"Anyway, the date kinda began to wear down after that. Soon after, we went back to Alphys' lab to watch some anime."

Alex had a huge smile on his face, "How nice of Mettaton. I take it that this was the final date with Mettaton, or were there more after that?"

She shook her head, "Hey, a girl's gotta keep a few secrets and stories to herself. Maybe next time, I'll let you know…"

"True dat." Frisk said, smirking and nodding towards Lynsie, earning a chuckle from many of those who were present.

"so, how about a story from your end? one for one?" Sans suggested, earning a pat on the back from his brother.

"GREAT IDEA, BROTHER!"

"thanks bro."

Alex sat up a bit straighter. "Alright, I'll tell one now. Hmm…" He thought for a moment, trying to come up with a good story to tell that they likely didn't hear already from the briefing prior to the fight against him.

"Alright, I got it." He finally said. "I remember the morning of orientation at our new school after we freed the monsters. Back then, Chara was still inside of Frisk, but everything still worked out…"

* * *

 **{PureTale Universe; post-barrier destruction, pre-QMA. Dreemurr Household.}**

Alex had woken up not even a moment ago, sitting up as the first rays of sunshine cut through the blinds and entered their shared bedroom. He swung his body over to the edge of his bed, peering down to the bunk below him, which currently housed the sleeping form of Frisk. Slowly but surely, Alex climbed down the provided ladder and landed on the ground in his PJs. Spending a moment too long, he stared at his crush's sleeping form, currently curled into a cute ball.

He heard someone clear their throat behind him, causing him to immediately blush and turn around, coming face-to-face with Asriel, smirking at him. Of course, Asriel had to break the silence as he whispered, "Wow, already?"

Alex narrowed his eyes, making Asriel giggled quietly. "You're both so weird." Asriel added, shaking his head as Alex began to grab his pair of clothes for the day.

"No, you're weird. And says who?" He asked back.

"Well, Chara agrees with me!"

"Nuh uh."

"Yeah, you are. You're just like how mom and dad always are…" Alex tried his best to ignore him, but he wouldn't stop teasing, "Just tell her how much you LOOoooovvvvveee her!"

Alex was ready for payback, though. He took in a deep breath, preparing himself for his counterattack as he slowly turned around to face Asriel. He used his creepiest face.

Asriel, as expected, shrieked, falling backwards onto his sheets in fear. Alex could no longer hold the expression and laughed aloud at Asriel's priceless reaction.

He quickly sat back up, crossing his arms and pouting, "No fair, you can't use Chara's creepy face like that!"

Alex simply shrugged, "Hey, blame Chara. She's the one who taught me."

 **"Taught what?"** They both heard. Turning to face Frisk, they saw the creepiest face in existence. Frisk's eyes were missing and her sockets were pure black, along with her mouth.

Unable to not do so, they both fell back in shock and fear, shrieking in sync as Frisk's face returned to normal as Chara laughed, rolling back and forth on their bed. Her irises were red, rather than brown, showing that Chara was in control for the moment.

"Stop it Chara, not this early!" Asriel scolded her.

As his heartrate began to slow once more, Alex began to smile, "Dang Chara, you do creepy faces on a whole 'nother level."

Chara beamed with pride, **"Of course. I am a pro, after all."**

"Is Frisk still sleeping?" Asriel innocently asked.

 **"Yeah, but she'll likely wake up soon. Why Azzy?"**

Asriel smiled fiendishly, making Alex frown, "Chara, wouldn't you agree that Alex and Frisk llloooooovvvvveeeeeee each other?!"

Alex's face turned beet red as Chara tried to suppress a laugh, before giving up and resuming her previous rolling back and forth on the bed. In response to his teasing, Alex proceeded to tackle Asriel, jumping onto his bed and shaking him by his shoulders, "Be quiet you little goat!"

Everyone began to laugh now, even as Frisk woke up. In response, one of Frisk's irises became brown, showing that both her and Chara were in control together for a moment, before both turned brown as Chara slipped back inside completely.

Suddenly, the door opened and Toriel stood in the doorway, "Up already, my children?" She asked with a kind smile.

Alex quickly hopped off of Asriel, picking his clothing up and off of the floor, "Yeah mom, I was just going to get changed."

"On top of Asriel?" She asked, laughing.

"No, he was just teasing me." He quickly threw Asriel under the bus, making him frown.

"Nuh uh, I didn't do anything, right Frisk?" Asriel tried to defend himself.

Chara must have said something to Frisk, because after a moment, she replied, "Chara said it's both of their faults!" The two opposing sides playfully glared at Frisk/Chara, silently plotting some payback to their neutrality.

Toriel smiled at their antics, "Alright, well why don't you all get dressed? This is out last week before school!" They all proceeded to groan together, Asriel pouting as well. "C'mon Asriel, no pouting… Asgore's making pancakes…"

Asriel immediately brightened up, jumping out of his bed and dashing over to the closet to pick out his clothes. Alex, Frisk, and Toriel all laughed at his enthusiasm.

* * *

"…from there, we had a pretty fantastic breakfast. Later that day was when we first met Mister Sower, too." Alex said, concluding his story.

"I remember that. You two were insufferable back then. Still are, though, but at least you admit it now." Chara commented with a smirk.

Frisk crossed her arms, "Excuse us for not knowing how romance works." She said, before staring at Chara, "If I recall, you had the same issue with Verdana."

Now Chara began to blush in embarrassment, "Sh-sh-shut up, Frisk!" She demanded, making everyone laugh. After everything that's happened, they all deserved a few moments of relaxation and happiness.

* * *

 ** _A/N:_** Here I am once again! Got this next chapter up and running quicker than I thought I would, so there's that, I guess. We're at the home stretch, just another two chapters or so until the end of this adventure. Hope you've enjoyed this chapter! I thought it was decent enough.


	17. Re-Connected

**Remember: Spoilers for Undertale, my story, and R.I.P Lynn's are contained within this story. **

**If you'd rather not be spoiled in any of those three ways, please stop now and go read the other stories or play the game. (It's worth it!)**

 **If you need another reminder/overview of either of our stories, please go back to chapter one or two to check them out.**

 **Thanks again to R.I.P. Lynn for making this possible.**

 **Now, time to check on everyone!**

* * *

 **Chapter Seventeen:** Re-Connected.

"I-I must hand it to y-you Doctor. I n-never imagined we'd connect to another t-timeline." Doctor Alphys said, staring on in fascination at the fully functional QMA device in front of them. Although it remained inactive, it was nearly ready to be activated.

Gaster smirked, **"I MUST SAY, THE FOURTH TIME AROUND HAS GONE MUCH SMOOTHER THAN THE PREVIOUS THREE."**

 _"oh yeah, g. a lot less exploding and a lot more pretty colors."_

"✡ 🕆 ✌ 👍 ❄✌✋ ❄ ✌❄ ❄ 👎 ✞✋👍 ✋💧 🕆 ✡ 🕆 👍❄✋ ✌ 📪 👍 👍❄✍" (YOU ARE CERTAIN THAT THE DEVICE IS FULLY FUNCTIONAL, CORRECT?) His alternate asked, staring at the device neutrally.

Gaster nodded, **"OH YES. ACCORDING TO THE CALCULATIONS, THIS QMA DEVICE IS NOW SYNCED WITH OUR ORIGINAL TIMELINE. SO LONG AS THE POWER INPUT TO THE QMA REMAINS UNCHANGED, THERE SHOULD BE NO COMPLICATIONS."**

 _"should i send a bone-call to 'em?"_

 **"YES, THAT WOULD BE GOOD."**

 _"you got it, g."_

And with that, Sans vanished, leaving just the two Gasters and Alphys in the main lab. After a moment of silence, the foreign Gaster spoke up. **"I'D LIKE TO PROPOSE AN EQUALLY BENEFICIAL TRADE WITH YOU, DOCTOR."**

His alternate turned to him curiously, "✌ ❄ ✌👎 📪 ✡ 🕆 💧✌✡✍ ✋'💣 ✋ ❄ ✋ 🕆 👎📬 🕈 ✌❄ 👎 ✡ 🕆 💣 ✌ ✍" (A TRADE, YOU SAY? I'M INTRIGUED. WHAT DO YOU MEAN?)

Gaster smiled, **"AS WE'VE OBVIOUSLY SHOWN, OUR TIMELINES WERE QUITE SIMILAR, BUT QUICKLY BRANCHED OFF FROM ONE ANOTHER. WE BOTH HAVE HAD IDENTICAL IDEAS FOR OUR STUDIES, BUT DUE TO CIRCUMSTANCES, WE WENT ON DIFFERENT PATHS."**

"✡ 💧📬 🕆 🕈 👎💧 💧❄✌ ❄ 👎 💧✋💣✋ ✌ ✡📪 👌🕆❄ ❄ ✌ 💣✌ ✋ 💧 ✌ 👎 ✋💧😐 👍 ✌ 👎 ✞ ✡❄ ✋ 📬" (YES. OUR WORLDS STARTED SIMILARLY, BUT THE ANOMALIES AND FRISK CHANGED EVERYTHING.)

 **"PRECISELY. ANYWAY, MY RESEARCH QUICKLY TURNED TOWARD THE TIMELINES AND ALTERNATE UNIVERSES, WHILE YOU, SINCE THE 'RENEWAL', HAVE AIMED FOR MORE CONVENTIONAL RESEARCH."** Gaster motioned towards some blueprints of an updated Core. **"THE NEW AND IMPROVED CORE, FOR INSTANCE."**

" ❄ ❄ ❄ 🏱 ✋ ❄📪 👎 👍❄ 📬 ✌ ✡ 🕆 ❄ ✡✋ ❄ ❄ ✌ 👎 💣✡ 👍 🏱 ✌ 💧✍" (GET TO THE POINT, DOCTOR. ARE YOU TRYING TO GET AHOLD OF MY CORE PLANS?)

Gaster shook his head, **"NO, I HAVE NO INTEREST IN REBUILDING OR UPGRADING OUR VERSION OF THE CORE. IT RUNS SUFFICIENTLY FOR ITS CURRENT PURPOSE. I AM INTERESTED IN A FEW OF YOUR OTHER DEVICES. ONES IN WHICH I'VE GIVEN UP ON IN ORDER TO PURSUE MY CURRENT FIELD OF STUDY."**

"✌ 📪 ✡ 💧📬 ✋😐 ❄ 💧 🕆 💧👍✌ 📪 ✋ ✌💧💧🕆💣 ✍" (AHH, YES. LIKE THE SOUL SCANNER, I ASSUME?) He asked, motioning towards the exit with his skull. "✋ 👍✌ 🕆 👎 💧❄✌ 👎 ✡ 🕆 ✋ ❄ 💧❄ ✋ 💧🕆👍 👎 ✞✋👍 💧📬 🕈 ✞ 📪 ✋ 💣🕆💧❄ 💣✋ 👎 ✡ 🕆 ❄ ✌❄ ✋ 🕈 🕆 👎 👎 💧 💣 ❄ ✋ ✋ ❄🕆 ❄ ✋ ✋ ✌ 👌 🕆 🏱 ✋ ❄💧📬" (I CAN UNDERSTAND YOUR INTEREST IN SUCH DEVICES. HOWEVER, I MUST REMIND YOU THAT I WOULD NEED SOMETHING IN RETURN FOR THEIR FINAL BLUEPRINTS.)

 **"I HAVE NO INTENTION OF TAKING IT WITHOUT OFFERING A FAIR TRADE. IN EXCHANGE FOR COPIES OF THIS RESEARCH, I'M WILLING TO OFFER SOME OF MINE."**

"✋🕯💣 ✋💧❄ ✋ 📬📬📬" (I'M LISTENING…)

 **"I UNDERSTAND THAT YOU HAVE BEEN SPENDING A LARGE PORTION OF YOUR RESEARCH INTO SOULS AS WELL. PARTICULARLY, LYNSIE'S UNIQUE, ANOMALY SOUL."** He started, to which his alternate nodded.

Alphys was paying close attention as well, "Y-yes. Lynsie's Soul has been of gr-great interest."

 **"EXACTLY. AND, AS YOU'D EXPECT, I HAVE BEEN SPENDING MY TIME AND RESOURCES ON STUDYING OUR TIMELINE'S ANOMALY: ALEX AND HIS PURITY SOUL."**

"💧 🕈 ✌❄✍ ✡ 🕆 🕈✋💧 ❄ ❄ ✌👎 👎✌❄✌ ✋💧 💧 🕆 💣✡ 👌 🕆 🏱 ✋ ❄💧✍" (SO WHAT? YOU WISH TO TRADE DATA OF HIS SOUL FOR MY BLUEPRINTS?)

 **"NO. MORE THAN THAT. YOU SEE, MUCH LIKE HOW ALPHYS AND YOURSELF HAVE BEEN ABLE TO ISOLATE DETERMINATION AND PHYSICALLY EXTRACT IT, I'VE LEARNED TO DO SO WITH OTHER TRAITS, ALLOWING IN-DEPTH STUDY OF THEM AS WELL."**

"✋ ❄ 💧❄✋ 📬 ❄ ✌❄🕯💧 ✈🕆✋❄ ❄ ✌👍 ✋ ✞ 💣 ❄📪 👌🕆❄ ✋ 👍 🕆 👎 ✋😐 ✡ ✋ 🕆 ❄ ✌❄ 🕆❄ 🕈✋❄ ✋ ❄ 💣 ❄ 📬" (INTERESTING. THAT'S QUITE THE ACHIEVEMENT, BUT I COULD LIKELY FIGURE THAT OUT WITHIN THE MONTH.)

 **"AH, YES, BUT YOU'D STILL LACK WHAT I'M TRULY OFFERING."**

"Wh-what exactly are you offering, Doctor?"

 **"PURITY. CREATIVITY. FEAR. HATE. ALL FOUR OF THOSE TRAITS ARE FOREIGN AND UNOBTAINABLE IN YOUR TIMELINE. TWO OF THEM ARE UNIQUE TO OUR TIMELINE, AND THE OTHER TWO ARE QUITE HARD TO GET AHOLD OF NORMALLY WITHOUT SOME SORT OF CONFLICT OR DANGER."**

Gaster's alternate remained silent for a moment, taking this in. "✞ ✡ ✋ ❄ 💧❄✋ 📬 💧❄🕆👎✡✋ ❄ 💧 ❄ ✌✋❄💧 👍 🕆 👎 ✌👎 ❄ 💣✌ ✡ 🏱 💧💧✋👌✋ ✋❄✋ 💧📬 ✋ ✌✞ ✌ ✡ 🕆📪 👎 👍❄ 📬" (VERY INTERESTING. STUDYING THOSE TRAITS COULD LEAD TO MANY POSSIBILITIES. I HAVE AN OFFER FOR YOU, DOCTOR.)

Gaster nodded, **"NOW I'M LISTENING."**

"👍 💧✋👎 ✋ ❄ ✌❄ ❄ ✈💣✌ ❄ 👍 ✡ ✋💧 👌 ✋ ✋✞ ✡ 🕆 🕆💧 📪 🕈 ✌ 👍 💧✋👎 👎 🕯 ✞ 🕯 ✌❄ ❄ ✋💧 🏱 ✋ ❄ ✋ ❄✋💣 📬" (CONSIDERING THAT THE QMA TECHNOLOGY IS BEING GIVEN FOR YOUR USE, WE ARE CONSIDERED 'EVEN' AT THIS POINT IN TIME.) He began, " 🕈 ✞ 📪 ✋ ✌💣 🕈✋ ✋ ❄ 👎 ✌ 📫 📫 ❄ ✌👎 📬 ✋ ✠👍 ✌ ✡ 🕆 🕆🏱👎✌❄ 👎 ✠❄ ✌👍❄✋ ❄ 👍 ✡📪 ✋ 🕈✋ ✋✞ ✡ 🕆 ❄ 👌 🕆 🏱 ✋ ❄💧 ❄ 💧 🕆 💧👍✌ 📬" (HOWEVER, I AM WILLING TO DO A ONE-FOR-ONE TRADE. IN EXCHANGE FOR YOUR UPDATED EXTRACTION TECHNOLOGY, I WILL GIVE YOU THE BLUEPRINTS FOR THE SOUL SCANNER.)

Gaster nodded, **"THAT IS FAIR, CONSIDERING WE BOTH HAVE EARLIER VERSION OF SAID TECHNOLOGY, AND WE'RE SIMPLY SAVING EACH OTHER TIME."**

"✋ 👎 👎📬" (INDEED.) He responded with a smirk, "❄ 💧❄ ❄ ✠👍 ✌ 🕈✋ ✌ 💧 👌 📫 📫 📬 ✞ ✡ 🕆 ✋✈🕆 📪 ✋💧 ✌❄ 👎 💧 🕆 ❄ ✌✋❄ 💧✌💣🏱 📪 ✋ 🕈✋ ✋✞ ✡ 🕆 ❄ 👌 🕆 🏱 ✋ ❄💧 ❄ ✌ 💧✋ 🏱✋ 👍 📫👍 ✌💧💧✋ ✋ 👎 ❄ 👍 ✡📬" (THE REST OF THE EXCHANGE WILL ALSO BE ONE-FOR-ONE. FOR EVERY UNIQUE, ISOLATED SOUL TRAIT SAMPLE, I WILL GIVE YOU THE BLUEPRINTS TO A SINGLE PIECE OF NON-CLASSIFIED TECHNOLOGY.) Gaster's alternate extended his hand towards him.

Gaster smiled, nodding as he extended his hand as well. Together, they shook hands in agreement, **"IT IS A DEAL, DOCTOR GASTER."**

"✋ 🕈 🕆 👎 ✌ 💧 🕈✋💧 ❄ 💧 ✡ 🕆 ✌👌📪 👎 👍❄ 📬 ✌ ❄ ✌ 📪 ✋❄🕯💧 ✡ ✌✋ ✌ ❄ ✡ 🕆🕯✞ 💧🏱 ❄ 💧 💣🕆👍 ❄✋💣 ✋ 💣✋ 📬" (I WOULD ALSO WISH TO SEE YOUR LAB AS WELL, DOCTOR. AFTER ALL, IT'S ONLY FAIR AFTER YOU'VE SPENT SO MUCH TIME IN MINE.)

 **"FAIR ENOUGH. PERHAPS A TOUR OF OUR WORLD IS IN ORDER IN EXCHANGE FOR ALL THE HELP WE'VE RECEIVED."**

Alphys gasped, "I-I'll go get Undyne!" She said excitedly, running off to a side room where the pair of Undynes were likely conversing still.

* * *

After the phone call from the foreign Sans, Lynsie and her accompanying skeletons in the hospital room promptly left, vanishing from sight as they reemerged inside Gaster's Lab. The foreign Sans had told her that he'd go and pick up the kids and his brother from the room once he was done with his phone call to the King, Queen, and her brothers.

"welp, here we are, princess."

"YES. I'M SURE EVERYONE IS SO EXCITED TO BE GOING HOME." Papyrus said enthusiastically, before a small frown formed on his skull, "I'M GOING TO MISS OUR NEW FRIENDS!"

Lynsie reached over and held his gloved hand, gently reassuring him with a squeeze, "It's ok Papy."

"yeah bro, we'll probably see 'em again, but they're not gone yet." He said, cheering him up.

Walking in through the front entrance, the three of them entered the lab, walking through the Soul Scanner without incident. It confirmed their identities, allowing them access as the entered the main laboratory, finding the pair of Gasters standing alone at a workstation, deep in conversation.

"✋🕯💣 ❄ ✋ ✡ 🕆📪 👎 👍❄ 📪 ❄ 💧 ✌👎✋ 💧 👎 🕯❄ 💣✌😐 ✌ ✡ 💧 💧 📬 🕈 ✡ 👎 🕯❄ 🕈 🕆 👍😐 ❄ 💧 👍 👎✌ ✡ 👍✌🏱✌👍✋❄ 💧✍" (I'M TELLING YOU, DOCTOR, THESE READINGS DON'T MAKE ANY SENSE. WHY DON'T WE UNLOCK THE SECONDARY CAPACITORS?)

 **"AND I'M TELLING YOU, DOCTOR, THAT I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING. THE SECONDARY CAPACITORS ARE HELPING TO MAINTAIN THE QUANTUM SHIELDING FOR THE WORMHOLE RELEASING THEM 'MIGHT' INCREASE CONNECTION SPEED, BUT WOULD ULTIMATELY DESTABILIZE THE QUANTUM FIELD."**

" ✌ ✡✍ ✡ 🕆 😐 🕈 🕈 ✌❄ ✡ 🕆🕯 👎 ✋ ✍ ✌ 👎📪 🏱 ✌✡ ❄ 📪 🕈 💣✌ ✡ ❄✋💣 💧 ✌💧 ✡ 🕆 👎 ✞✋👍 ✠🏱 👎 👎✍" (REALLY? YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING? AND, PRAY TELL, HOW MANY TIMES HAS YOUR DEVICE EXPLODED?)

 **"I WILL ADMIT THAT I HAVE HAD MY FAIR SHARE OF… ACCIDENTS. HOWEVER, FAILURE CAN LEAD TO SUCCESS. AND TO BE FAIR, I'VE HAD PLENTY OF TIME TO FIGURE OUT THE SPECIFICS OF INTER-DIMENSIONAL TRAVEL."**

"🕈 ✌❄ ✞ ✡ 🕆 💧✌✡📪 👎 👍❄ 📬" (WHATEVER YOU SAY, DOCTOR.)

"sup, g." Sans interrupted, announcing their arrival.

"HELLO DOCTORS!"

"Hey Gasters."

"✌ 📪 ✋ 🕈✌💧 🕈 👎 ✋ 🕈 ✡ 🕆🕯👎 ✌ ✋✞ 📬" (AH, I WAS WONDERING WHEN YOU'D ARRIVE.)

 **"YES, GOOD TIMING. THE QMA IS JUST MOMENTS AWAY FROM MAKING THE CONNECTION TO OUR ORIGINAL TIMELINE."**

Lynsie looked at her Gaster curiously. "Just now? I thought you'd already connected, and were waiting for it to stabilize."

" 📪 📬 ✋ 💣🕆💧❄ ✌✞ 💣✋💧🏱 😐 ✡ 🕆 💣🕆💧❄ ✌✞ 💣✋💧 ✌ 👎📬 🕈 ✌👎 🕆 👎 ❄ ✋ ❄✋💣 ✋ ✡ 💧❄ 👎✌✡📪 👌🕆❄ ✌✞ ✡📪 🕆💧❄ 🕈📪 💧❄✌👌✋ ✋ 👎 ❄ 👎 ✞✋👍 🕆 ❄ 💣✌😐 ❄ ✋ ✌ 👍 👍❄✋ 📬" (NO, NO. I MUST HAVE MISSPOKE OR YOU MUST HAVE MISHEARD. WE HAD FOUND THEIR TIMELINE YESTERDAY, BUT HAVE ONLY, JUST NOW, STABILIZED THE DEVICE ENOUGH TO MAKE THE FINAL CONNECTION.)

"makes sense, i guess." Sans commented, "just a few moments, you said?"

"WOWIE, WILL IT BE SPECTACULAR TO WATCH?"

 **"NOT PARTICULARLY, BUT YOU MIGHT ENJOY IT, PAPYRUS."** The alternate Gaster said, refusing to make eye contact with either Sans or Papyrus. It peaked Lynsie's interest for a moment, before he continued, **"WE'LL BE FIRING IT SHORTLY. WE'RE JUST WAITING FOR THE REST OF OUR ARRIVALS."**

As soon as he said that, the next group entered the lab.

Chara and Asriel entered, followed immediately by her parents, Toriel and Asgore, with Alphys and the pair of Undynes leading the rear. Chara nodded to Lynsie, "Sister."

She nodded back, "Brother." She replied with a smile.

Once they fully entered, Chara crosses his arms, "So, is this the part where all of these headache-causing duplicates leave us alone and return from whatever world they came from?" He asked, motioning towards the pair of Unydnes.

Lynsie let out a laugh, "What's wrong, brother? Were both Papyruses giving you a headache?"

He frowned and Asriel elbowed him in the side, "Yeah Chara. We all know you're going to miss them the most."

He narrowed his eyes and shook his head, "Whatever helps you sleep and night, Asriel." he turned back towards the doctors, "Hey Doc, when are they leaving?"

"❄ ✡ 🕈✋ 👌 ✌✞✋ 🕈 ❄ ✡ ❄ 📪 🏱 ✋ 👍 📬" (THEY WILL BE LEAVING WHEN THEY GET HERE, PRINCE.)

 **"YES, DON'T BE SO IMPATIENT, YOUR HIGHNESS."** The foreign Gaster responded with a smile, **"I SEE SOME THINGS ARE IDENTICAL ACROSS WORLDS."**

He hardened his gaze at the foreign doctor, "Don't compare me to that second-rate copy. She's far worse than I."

"Really, brother?" Lynsie asked with a raised eyebrow, "As I recall, you've always been a bit violence-prone."

Asriel held in a laugh as Toriel stepped forward, "Now, now, my children, no need to bicker."

"Tori's right." Asgore added with his deep voice, "Today is a beautiful day. There is no need for your daily bickering."

"It is not daily." Chara replied, shaking his head.

"eh… it kinda is, kiddo." Sans said, smirking lazily at the prince.

"WELL, IT'S MORE COMMON THAN DAILY."

Lynsie shook her head, "It's alright, that's just how my dear brother shows how much he really cares, isn't that right, Chara?"

"Whatever."

"Is that an idiot I hear?"

Everyone turned towards the entrance as the final group arrived, with the foreign, female Chara leading the charge, smirking at her counterpart. Lynsie watched as her brother's smirk turned into a frown. Behind Chara were Frisk and Alex, with both other versions of her skeletons leading the rear.

 _"sup guys. we're not late, are we?"_

"SANS, I TOLD YOU WE SHOULD HAVE LEFT EARLIER. NOW WE'RE THE LAST ONES TO ARRIVE!"

"Nah, you're just fine." Lynsie said with a smile as they entered.

 _"see paps, we're on time, no bones about it."_

"REALLY SANS? A PUN? WE JUST GOT HERE!"

 _"well, you can't spell punctual without a pun."_ He said with a victorious smile, winking at Lynsie as herself, Toriel, and her Sans laughed at their own bickering. The young, alternate Chara was laughing as well, shaking her head.

Lynsie's Papyrus wasn't amused either, "REALLY? ONE SKELETON OF PUNS I CAN BARELY HANDLE, BUT TWO?"

"bro, you can handle a skele-ton of puns?" Her Sans asked, catching his brother's accidental pun, making Lynsie's laughter grow.

"OF COURSE, BROTHER. YOU AND YOUR P-…" That's when he realized his mistake, "AHHHHHHH, REALLY BROTHER? MUST YOU CORRUPT ME AS WELL?"

"YOU'VE BEEN CORRUPTED AS WELL?! NOOOOOOOOO! ALL IS LOST IF EVEN MYSELF HAS BEEN CORRUPTED BY SANS' TOMFOOLERY AS WELL!"

Almost everyone began to laugh at that, with both Alex and Frisk joining in, as well as both Doctor Gasters and even Asriel and Asgore. Chara shook his head and smiled at the antics as both Undyne fought their own smiles. Doctor Alphys shook her own head and walked over toward both Gasters to help with the QMA activation.

After a few moments were spent to collect themselves, Doctor Gaster cleared his non-existent throat. "✌ ✋ ❄📬 🕈 ❄ ✌❄ ✞ ✡ ✋💧 📪 ✌ 🕈 ✌👎✡ ❄ ✌👍❄✋✞✌❄ ❄ ✈🕆✌ ❄🕆💣 💣🕆 ❄✋✞ 💧✌ ✌👍👍 ✌❄ ✍" (ALRIGHT. NOW THAT EVERYONE IS HERE, ARE WE READY TO ACTIVATE THE QUANTUM MULTIVERSAL ACCELERATOR?)

After several 'affirmatives', 'yeses', 'yups' and even a 'finally', Gaster nodded, turning towards his alternate. "👎 👍❄ ✌💧❄ 📪 ✋ ✡ 🕆🕯👎 👌 💧 😐✋ 👎📬📬📬" (DOCTOR GASTER, IF YOU'D BE SO KIND...)

The alternate Gaster nodded and turned away, walking towards a nearby console, and began booting the device up. Fully prepared for Inter-Timeline connection after locating his original timeline, Gaster activated the startup sequence. With a few clicks at his keyboard, everyone turned their attention towards the QMA device.

It stood similar to his own, an octagonal frame, with a heart-shaped light on each of the eight joints of the frame. One-by-one, each light came on, starting with the upper right-hand one. Red, orange, yellow, green, light blue, blue, purple, and pink, the colors of all present Soul Traits in this timeline, minus Relentlessness. As the final colored light, pink, came on, the frame began to shudder and hum as magically-generated electricity flowed through it.

Suddenly, a spark appeared in the center of the frame. A white, colorless spark flashed briefly, before slowly glowing in size and forming a white vortex within the QMA frame. As the disk of energy grew and touched the frame, filling out the void within it, color began to bleed off of the eight lights, swirling clockwise into the disk, creating a multi-colored vortex.

"WOWIE, THAT'S INCREDIBLE!"

"wow… yeah, that's something alright."

"✋ 👎 👎📬" (INDEED.)

Lynsie shook her head and smiled, "Wow, Doctor, I thought you said it wasn't spectacular."

The other Gaster simply shrugged, **"I'VE ACTIVATED THE QMA VORTEX MORE TIMES THAN I CAN COUNT. I ADMIT IT IS QUITE BEAUTIFUL, BUT THE SHOCK AND AWE OF THE EXPERIENCE HAS DWINDLED FOR ME."**

The noise coming from the machine died down to a more tolerable level as the disk stabilized.

"So it's ready?" Asgore asked, staring at the vortex.

 **"YES, YOUR MAJESTY. JUST NEED IT TO FINISH STABILIZING FIRST…"**

After a few more moments, the vortex began to become more and more transparent, allowing viewers to see what was on the other side.

Rather than observing the wall behind it, everyone could see what appeared to be another lab of some sort, with two individuals standing on the other side. One was another version of Alphys, holding a data pad of some kind and wearing her usual lab coat. To the left of her was a human, matching the appearance of the man Lynsie met in the Void. The Soul of Creativity: Jordan Sower, stood there with a victorious smile on his face.

Reconnection successful.

* * *

 **A/N:**

Sorry that this chapter is a bit shorter than normal. We're winding down now, and the next one should be longer. It'll be time for goodbyes and maybe an epilogue. Hope you've enjoyed so far! I've got a busy Summer ahead of me, so I'm trying to get this up and finished as soon as I can. Hopefully, if everything works out the way I'd like it to, the next chapter will be up in the next week or so; likely before June, if possible for me.

-swrWriter


	18. Home

**Remember: Spoilers for Undertale, my story, and R.I.P Lynn's are contained within this story. **

**If you'd rather not be spoiled in any of those three ways, please stop now and go read the other stories or play the game. (It's worth it!)**

 **If you need another reminder/overview of either of our stories, please go back to chapter one or two to check them out.**

 **Thanks again to R.I.P. Lynn for making this possible.**

 **Now, time to check on everyone!**

* * *

 **Chapter Eighteen:** Home.

Jordan crossed his arms and smiled, his aura radiating with success. Not only had their QMA connected to the 'Renewtale' Timeline, but it seems like the connection was so successful that their QMA was directly linked to another similar device in the other world. This makes travel between these timelines not only much easier, but this particular connection is now one of the most stable connections ever made with another timeline. After all, they'd always had to punch through the multiversal barrier and force a vortex into the other timeline.

As the vortex slowed and cleared, he could see others on the other side. Two Gasters, two Sanses, two Papyruses, two Undynes, two Charas (with very different appearances), and Frisk and Alex with them. He could also make out another Alphys, the King and Queen, and that young lady he'd met in the Void, Lynsie.

His smile was wide as he raised a hand, waving towards those beyond his own timeline. His received response was a few waves from Alex, Frisk, and both Papyruses.

If it were fully up to Jordan, he might have gone through the generated vortex and visited the other timeline. However, that wasn't really possible for him at this time. First of all, it was time for them to come home, not for someone else to leave. Secondly, his Soul isn't exactly designed for leaving this single timeline. Being trapped in the Void between worlds was deadly enough for him, but fully leaving his world? There were so many unknowns that it'd be best if he just didn't.

He turned his head slightly to his side, looking to Alphys, "Excellent work, Doctor. Well done!"

She smiled and nodded, her joy overriding any nervousness, "Thanks Jordan. No complications this time, it seems."

"Yes." He replied happily, leaving it silent between them for a moment. Now it was time to await their return. He flashed them a grin and a thumbs-up, before leaving to give the Dreemurrs a phone call, informing them of the good news.

Alphys remained there, her eyes darting between the QMA vortex and a nearby console, making sure that there were no inconsistencies or issues.

* * *

 **"IT IS TIME, YOUNG ONES."** Doctor Gaster said, looking down towards Alex, Frisk, and Chara as Jordan Sower walked away on the other side of the portal to do something.

Alex nodded, smiling towards everyone from the other timeline, "It was nice meeting you all. Thanks for everything!"

Frisk smiled and nodded as well, "Yeah, thanks for all the help with Alex and getting home."

Chara shrugged, "Yeah, it wasn't too bad. You know, except for all of us almost dying and all that crap."

"Chara!" Frisk exclaimed with a frown, elbowing her sister.

Chara frowned a shook her head, "Whatever. Thanks, I guess."

Lysnie's smile grew, "It was nice to meet you guys."

Gaster turned towards the Royal Family, **"YOUR MAJESTIES, IF I MAY."** He began, pausing for a moment, **"I AM UNSURE IF YOU'D WANT TO, BUT YOU AND A FEW OTHERS MAY COME OVER AND SEE OUR WORLD, IF YOU'D LIKE. IT'D ONLY BE FAIR AFTER ALL OF THE HOSPITALITY SHOWN TO US."**

Toriel and Asgore faced one another, Asgore speaking first, "I don't see why not."

"Yes, but we have duties we cannot simply skip today." She countered, frowning. She surely wouldn't mind visiting this other timeline, but they were simply too busy.

"Hmm. Yes, we are, but what about our children?" Asgore replied, motioning towards Lynsie, Chara, and Asriel.

"I… I don't know."

Frisk's eyes lit up, "Please. Pretty please, mo-Miss Toriel." She said, "We'll make sure they're safe!"

Lynsie smirked at Frisk's begging, "Yeah mom, and we won't be long."

"I… I suppose there isn't an issue. That is, if your brothers wanted to go as well."

Asriel smiled, "I wouldn't mind checking out this other world." He turned his gaze to Frisk, "What this other me like again?"

"He's a big doofus with a big heart." The other Chara cut in from behind Frisk, smirking even wider at Asriel's head shake while Frisk giggled.

Prince Chara shrugged, still carefully watching his alternate, "Don't worry, mother." He said, still watching his doppelganger, "I'll make sure nothing happens."

With that, Toriel finally gave in, "Alright, you can visit, but you must be back by dinner."

Frisk jumped up and down with joy, "Yes!" She smiled widely to the three of them, "You'll love it. Everything's not as advanced as it is here, but it's nice. We even have Grillby's nearby!"

The Sans beside Lynsie chuckled, "hey, i'm down for a vacation, especially if grillby is involved."

His brother frowned, "REALLY BROTHER? WE GET THE OPPORTUNITY TO VISIT A WORLD DIFFERENT FROM OUR OWN AND YOUR FIRST THOUGHT IS TO GO TO GRILLBY'S?!"

His alternate smiled, "DO NOT WORRY, OTHER ME. GRILLBY'S COOKING HAS IMPROVED TENFOLD RECENTLY, NOW THAT I WORK THERE!"

Lynsie's Papyrus' eye-sockets began to shine brightly, "REALLY? DOES THIS NEW AND IMPORVED GRILLBY'S SERVE THE FINEST PASTA IN ALL THE LAND?"

"OF COURSE! NYEH HEH HEH!"

Lynsie smiled, "Looks like they're in as well."

"Well, what the hell are we waiting for?" Undyne called out impatiently. She turned toward her alternate and the other Alphys, "You two!" She yelled out, gaining their attention, "Good luck, nerds!" She called out happily, causing a blush to erupt on Alphys' and the other Undyne's face. Before her alternate could seek retribution, she grinned madly, "See ya!"

Undyne then proceeded, while still wearing her armor, to backflip over the Dreemurrs, landing on her hands, before thrusting herself back up and through the vortex, landing finally on her feet back in her own timeline.

Several individuals shook their heads at the display while Prince Chara spoke, "Some things never change."

"No, no they don't." Alex said, laughing. After a moment, he stopped and turned towards them all, "For those of you coming to visit, see you soon. To everyone else, thanks again."

"Yeah, thanks again." Frisk said, waving with her right hand, and holding Alex's hand with her left.

"See ya later." Chara replied with a smile.

Together, the three of them entered the vortex and enter their own Gaster's lab. All that now remained from the other timeline was the three skeletons.

Sans chuckled, _"hehehe, guess that's my cue to leave, too. might as well give grillby a heads up. gonna need an extra table or two."_ He said, before turning to face the Queen, extending a hand, _"it was 'ice to meet you, your majesty."_

Queen Toriel nodded, wearing a large smile, "Of course. Same to you, Sans. Thanks for not giving me the cold shoulder." She replied with a grin as she took his hands, shaking it. Obviously, a fart sound effect emanated from the whoopee cushion in his hand.

She proceeded to laugh as Sans chuckled as well, _"it's been cool meetin' ya. stay frosty."_ He replied as he retracted his hand, winking at the final word, causing her laughter to increase in volume.

Papyrus shook his head, "I APOLOGIZE FOR MY BROTHER'S RUDE BEHAVIOUR!" He said with a frown, "YOUR MAJESTIES. LADY ASGORE, SIR ASGORE, SHAVED ASGORE, IT'S BEEN AWESOME!" He said with a smile. He turned to Sans, "COME BROTHER, LET US GO PREPARE GRILLBY'S! NYEH HEH HEH!" He said, picking up Sans and sprinting through the portal with his brother in his arms.

Gaster brought a hand to his face and shook his head at their antics, **"SOME THINGS NEVER LEAVE WITH MATURITY."** He said with a grin betraying him.

The other Sans shrugged, "hey, who you callin' immature?" He asked mock seriously.

"REALLY SANS?" His brother asked, "I'M CERTAIN YOU WOULD HAVE DONE THE EXACT SAME THING IN HIS PLACE."

"nah."

"REALLY?"

"yup."

"I DOUBT THAT, BROTHER."

"i'm serious, paps. my jokes would've been a lot funnier." He said with a grin, "Right Lynsie?"

Lynsie rolled her eyes but nodded, "Oh, of course, punny bones. You'd be much funnier."

"see paps, she gets it."

Gaster interrupted them, **"SO, WHO ALL WILL BE ACCOMPANYING ME?"**

Alphys shook her head, "I-I'll stay here and monitor the QMA."

Undyne nodded, pointing to Alphys over her shoulder, "I'll watch her and the lab, help her out if anything happens."

Asgore smiled, putting his hands on Toriel's shoulders, "My wife and I will be staying here." She nodded in agreement as he continued, "I believe our children will be accompanying you, right?"

"Yeah." Asriel smiled.

Prince Chara shrugged, "I guess."

Lynsie smiled, her arms wrapping around Sans and Papyrus, "Of course, and my two, lovely body guards will be coming along to make sure I'm safe, right guys?"

"yup."

"OF COURSE!"

"✌💧 💧 ✌ ✋📬" (AS SHALL I.)

Everyone present turned towards the Doctor, surprised at his sudden announcement. He'd remained silent up until this point, simply watching the farewells silently with a neutral expression, as if deep in thought. After another moment of silence, he spoke again.

"✋ 🕈✋💧 ❄ 💧 ❄ ✋💧 ❄ ❄✋💣 ✋ 📬 💣✌✡👌 👍 👎 ✌ 👎 👍 👍❄ ✌ 🕈 💧✌💣🏱 💧📬 ✋🕯💣 💧🕆 ❄ ✠🏱 ✋ 👍 🕈✋ 👌 ✋ ❄ ✋ 📬" (I WISH TO SEE THIS OTHER TIMELINE. MAYBE RECORD AND COLLECT A FEW SAMPLES. I'M SURE THE EXPERIENCE WILL BE ENLIGHTENING.)

Gaster nodded, smiling, **"OF COURSE, DOCTOR."** He stepped aside for a moment, waving his arms towards the QMA, **"AFTER YOU."** He said, speaking to the six of them, allowing them to all enter his timeline first.

As soon as the six of them entered, he turned to the remaining audience: Asgore, Toriel, Alphys, and Undyne. He smiled genuinely towards them, **"THANK YOU FOR YOUR HOSPITALITY AND AID."** He said to all of them, before focusing on the King and Queen, **"YOUR MAJESTIES, IF, FOR ANY REASON, YOU REQUIRE AID FROM MYSELF PLEASE LET ME KNOW. I WILL HELP IN ANY WAY I CAN."**

Toriel nodded, "Thank you, Doctor. It was nice to meet all of you."

Asgore smiled, speaking in his deep voice as his wife finished speaking, "And you're welcome. It was no trouble. We wouldn't have just left you out there to deal with this yourselves."

 **"I APPRECIATE THAT, YOUR MAJESTY."** He then motioned with his head towards the QMA, **"AND NOW, I BID YOU ADIEU."** He finished, before turning and entering the QMA, himself.

* * *

Grillby's magical eyebrows were slightly elevated, but other than that, if he was surprised by this odd group of customers, he didn't show it. Instead, he simply stood in place behind the counter, absentmindedly washing a glass as he quietly listened to an odd human's order.

Lynsie was surprised by this version of Grillby's. It was nearly triple the size of his original in Snowdin, and larger than her own version of the famous pub in her timeline. In fact, the main room of this building looked nearly identical to the original version, while there were also additional features and rooms added to accommodate larger venues. Luckily for Lynsie, the menu still had many of the basic items, only with a larger selection thanks to the addition of this world's Papyrus as an additional chef.

Sitting at the bar, she smiled, not needing to spend any more time searching through the menu to order. As if reading her mind, this version of Grillby focused his gaze on her, nodding, telling her silently that he's listening.

"Alright Grillby, I'll take the burger and fries combo, please." She asked, to which he nodded, putting down the clean glass. Lynsie turned to her left, "What about you, Papy?"

"HMM… I THINK I'LL TRY YOUR SPAGHETTI SPECIAL, MY GOOD SIR."

Grillby nodded, silently memorizing the order. Lynsie smiled and looked to her right now. "And you, punny bones?"

"hmm, i'll have the burg and fries combo too, grillby."

He nodded towards the three of them, confirming that he'd get their orders done soon. Over in a nearby booth sat the reunited Dreemurr family of this reality. Toriel, Asgore, Alex, Frisk, Chara, and Asriel enjoying their meals since they were regulars here and had already ordered before she and the others had arrived. Further down the bar sat the other version of Sans and his unique sister, Verdana. She was a cute little skeleton, much younger than the other two. The other version of Papyrus was in the back, helping prepare everyone's meals.

Sitting over in a corner, likely plotting a way to vaporize half the universe sat both Gasters, waiting on an order of fries for each of them. The two of them, even back in the lab, kept close to one another, usually deep in conversation, both speaking in a heavily accented version of hands, making their conversation secret between each other. Lynsie could understand some of it, but due to the number of distractions, she couldn't focus on internally translating them.

"I'll have the usual, Grillby. A burger and sprite, no fries." Jordan Sower said, sitting at the bar on the other side of Papyrus. Grillby nodded after taking their orders, leaving to prepare their meals. He turned towards Lynsie, peering past Papyrus, "So, how're you all enjoying our timeline?"

Lynsie smiled, relaxing her posture a bit as she turned to face him, "It's nice, honestly. Pretty similar to the original timeline in our place." She paused looking around the homely restaurant, with a table filled with the dog monsters close to the front of the pub. Other than themselves and the table of regulars, no one else was present, which was likely Grillby's doing in order to not cause confusion with several pairs of 'twins' present.

Speaking of twins, she spotted Chara and Asriel, her brothers, with chairs pulled up beside the Dreemurr table, deep in conversation. She smiled at them, before continuing her thought, "I'm actually quite surprised that everything worked out the way it did here. Weren't humans hostile to the Monsters at first?"

Jordan chuckled and nodded, "Oh, nothing that dramatic, but yes, it wasn't smooth sailing." He started, motioning towards the Dreemurr table, "But with leaders like them, a good example of positive Human-Monster relations, and a dash of Government intervention, it came together quite well."

"BUT DIDN'T YOU SAY THAT SIR ASGORE HAD STEPPED DOWN AS KING? WHO'S IN CHARGE NOW?"

"He did step down as King, but he serves at the Monster ambassador. Frisk was Determined, but she's still so young. She wasn't ready for the responsibility yet."

"what about tori? how's she doing over here?"

Jordan smiled gently, "She's a close friend and colleague at the children's school."

"What about the others? The Royal Guard doesn't seem to be in existence anymore." Lynsie pointed out.

Jordan chuckled, "We haven't had much of a need for one, really. Undyne is currently a Gym teacher at the same school, but serves as a 'Royal Guard' of sorts when needed. Alphys works in the lab with Gaster, much like yours does. Napstablook and Mettaton are currently on tour, along with Shyren. Hmm… who else? Ahh, Muffet owns a nearby bakery down the street, Papyrus works here with Grillby, obviously, and Sans works in the lab and as a volunteer at the school when needed."

The alternate Sans choked a bit while drinking his Ketchup, coughing a bit before setting the bottle down, turning towards Jordan. "i'm sorry, volunteer?"

 _"of course, buddy."_ A voice said from behind Papyrus, spooking him.

"GAH!" He turned around to see Sans behind him, "SANS! WHAT THE HECK?" he turned to look toward where the other Sans was previously, only to find that seat now vacant.

 _"hehe, sorry other bro. anyway…"_ He turned back towards his alternate, _"i think i did pretty well. i'm pretty selfless, tibia honest."_

Lynsie rolled her eyes, "Yeah, I'm sure Sans."

"WHAT WERE YOU OFFERED, NOT-BROTHER?"

 _"well… free grillby's might have been involved…"_

"Ha, I knew it!" Lynsie exclaimed, pointing at him. "There's no other reason you'd volunteer like that."

"Actually…" The four of them turned towards Jordan, "There might have also been some pranking involved as well."

"Pranking?" Lynsie asked.

"Yeah, what jerks." They heard a female voice say. They turned back towards the other Sans to find the younger skeleton was there as well, wearing a battle body similar in style to Papyrus', but it was light blue and gold, rather than white and orange.

Lynsie smiled, extending a hand towards the young skeleton Monster, "You must be Verdana. Nice to finally meet you." She said.

Verdana smiled brightly, taking her hand and shaking it, "Yep. Nice to meet you too, Lynsie." She then frowned, lightly glaring at her brother, "Sans, Frisk, and Alex pulled a prank at the School Dance."

"what kinda prank are we talking?" Her Sans asked, smiling in anticipation.

She crossed her arms and huffed, "Chara and I went to the dance together, and I'm sure you know the tradition of a 'King and Queen', right?"

Lynsie nodded, "Yes, everyone votes on the best couple, and then the winners lead a dance, right?"

The alternate Sans chuckled, _"hehehe, yep. and the votes were in…"_

Verdana shook her head, "I'm fairly certain that Alex and Frisk had won, but they talked Sans into rigging the votes." She nodded over towards the table of Dreemurrs, "And when Mr. Sower read of the winners…" She turned to Jordan, allowing him to finish.

He chuckled, looking away for a moment before turning back and speaking, "…And Chara and Asriel were the 'winners'."

Lynsie remained shocked and silent for a moment, before she lost it to a fit of laughter, which both Sanses joined in on. "R-Really?" She asked between laughs.

Verdana shook her head, "It wasn't funny." But a small grin fought its way onto her face, betraying her, "O-ok, so maybe it was a b-bit funny in hindsight, b-but not at the time!"

Lynsie wiped a tear from her eye, "I'm sure they weren't too thrilled about it." She said with a wide grin, to which Verdana's pout only grew in size.

Sans chuckled, _"nah, they weren't happy, but neither was verd. i though it was pretty good though."_

"i agree. that's actually pretty smart. who came up with the idea."

Verdana shook her head, "It was Alex. He schemed with Frisk and they got Sans into it, but Alex started the who thing."

"that kid's pretty smart, planning a good prank like that."

"DON'T ENCOURAGE THEM, SANS!"

Lynsie shook her head with a smile, right as their food was placed in front of them. She smiled up towards Grillby, "Thanks Grillby!"

He nodded, before turning and heading towards the Dreemurr table. As Lynsie began to dig in, she eyed the table as well, noticing that both pairs of Charas and Asriels were missing. Looking around quickly, she found that they had moved over to another table, where her brothers originally sat, nearby.

* * *

"Whoa… so… you're me?"

"Uhh… yeah, I guess, but not really. Different circumstances and timelines and all of that junk."

"Yeah, but you were a… uh, you know…" The voice dropped to a whisper, "You were a flower too, right?"

Prince Asriel solemnly nodded, "Yes. I'd rather not think about those days, though."

"But your sister, Lynsie, she saved you, right?" The younger, other version of Asriel asked his other self.

"Of course she did, Azzy. She's, like, the nicest human besides Frisk, Alex, and Mister Sower." His sister commented, sitting right beside him, watching her doppelganger closely, while he did the same to her.

Asriel turned to look at his sister in confusion for a moment, before asking his question to the other versions of themselves, "What about Frisk? Didn't she help?"

Chara, once again, interrupted, "No, she was like, evil or something."

Prince Chara finally spoke up, frowning and shaking his head, "She wasn't evil, she was troubled. I think Lynsie called it Depersonalization-Derealization Disorder, or something like that."

The young, princess Chara shook her head, "So what, she didn't understand what was going on?"

Prince Asriel nodded slowly, "Yes. She didn't understand that this was all real. She believed she was simply playing a videogame as the protagonist. Her Reset ability was simply 'resetting the game back to square one' with no real consequences."

Prince Chara nodded, "Lynsie knocked some sense into her though, and she's well taken care of today, so alls well that ends well."

Chara shook her head, "What kind of idiot would think that this is some sort of game? What sick, twisted person would abuse that kind of power?"

Prince Chara chuckled, nodding in agreement, "I agree, but it wasn't entirely her fault."

"Yeah, I guess." Chara admitted.

Asriel interrupted the silence that followed, "To be fair, sometimes it does seem a little bit like a game."

Both Charas stared at him, draining away the confidence he had just spoken in. Luckily, his alternate came to his rescue, putting a hand on his brother's shoulder, "Come on, Chara, even you have to admit it. The way the battle magic works. The Reset Ability. Even the coding and Anomaly State are reminiscent of a video game of some kind."

Chara shook her head, "I think you're both being idiots."

Prince Chara chuckled, smiling towards his alternate genuinely for once, "I think I wholeheartedly agree, Princess."

Chara frowned, crossed her arms, "Idiot. I'm not some stupid princess!"

Both Asriels laughed at the two of them, the Prince turning towards his younger self, "I see Chara remains the same wherever we go."

"Haha, yeah…" Asriel responded, letting their conversation go quiet for a moment, "So, what's it like being a Prince?" He asked him, his eyes glowing with genuine curiosity.

Prince Asriel couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of the question, "What's it like being a Prince? We're both Princes, in case you've forgotten."

Asriel crossed his arms, "You know what I mean. I was a Prince back in the Underground. Not up here and as an adult." He clarified.

"Ahh…" Prince Asriel responding, thinking about it for a moment, "Lots of work."

"That's all?" The smaller prince asked, frowning, "Just work? What about being famous? Or, what about all the things you can do as Prince?"

"Like what? Laying out on a hammock and being fed grapes?" He asked, laughing.

"Well, yeah, maybe…"

The prince shook his head, "It's not really like that. I mean, yeah, it's pretty cool at first being the famous 'Prince of Monsters', but it loses that charm. After a while, it just becomes normal."

"That's stupid." His alternate responded, shaking his head, "If I was a Prince like that, it'd never get old."

"News flash, Azzy, that is you as a Prince like that." His sister commented, smirking at her brother.

"That's different, Chara. We may be similar, but we're not identical. That's like saying that you and he are the same." He motioned towards both Charas.

"I'm nothing like him!" "I'm nothing like her!"

They both responded in sync, quickly causing the two of them to cross their arms and frown at one another, while both Asriels laughed at their siblings proving their point.

"See, that's exactly it." Prince Asriel responded between bouts of laughter.

"That's right Chara, how's it feel?"

"B-be quiet Azzy!"

"Brother… I will not forget this…"

Both Asriels couldn't help but continue laughing after that.

* * *

The afternoon at Grillbys continued later into the day as everyone continued conversing with one another. After eating their wonderful meals, Lynsie, Sans, and Papyrus all went in their separate ways to converse with others from this strange, alternate timeline. Papyrus met up with his alternate after he finished cooking in the back, and they conversed together, one teaching the other about the tips and tricks needed to expertly craft weaponry, costumes, and even jewelry.

Lynsie's Sans went over to the table in the corner, where both Gasters had sat for most of the event. Now, however, they weren't alone, as the other Sans and his sister, Verdana, were over there conversing as well. Sans joined the conversation, watching and making occasional puns as his brother was introduced to Verdana, as well as participating in some technical conversation about the finer intricacies of interdimensional, foreign magics.

Elsewhere, both Charas and Asriels were conversing by the dogs' table. The elder brothers, sat down and were playing a round of poker or two, while the younger versions sat nearby and watched, secretly rooting for Doggo. And then there was Lesser Dog, who seemed to be betting against himself and losing despite everything. At one point or another, the two younger versions would occasionally approach the now-working jukebox and choose some song or another for the entire pub to listen to.

Lynsie, instead, walked over towards the table with the other versions of her parents. There, Frisk, Alex, Toriel, and Asgore sat, the latter two motioned for her to come join them. Not wishing to be rude, and also being interested in these versions of her parents, she smiled and nodded, walking over and sitting down next to Frisk, who was now between her and Alex.

Toriel was the first to speak, smiling warmly at Lynsie, "You must be Lynsie, right?"

Lynsie smiled and nodded back, "Yes m-ma'am." She replied courteously, catching herself before she called her mom or mother. That might be a little awkward in this scenario.

"Please, no need for formalities. I am simply a mother and a teacher, there's no need to be so formal around me."

"Nor for me." Asgore's deep voice continued, drawing her attention. He wore his Mister Dad Guy outfit today. "I am no longer a King, but I am told your parents are both royalty, as are you, Princess." He continued, bowing his head slightly towards Lynsie.

She shook her head and chuckled, her cheeks lightly coated in red, "Please, just call me Lynsie. It still feels weird to be addressed like that, especially by my parents. Well, I mean…"

Frisk laughed and nudged her in the side, "Relax. They don't bite… unless yours do…?" She ended with a question mildly curious.

Lynsie couldn't help but laugh back at that absurdity, "Of course they don't bite. They're Monsters, not monsters."

Alex joined in the laughter as well with the two of them, as did Asgore and Toriel. After a moment, Toriel spoke once more, "My child, I would like to thank you." She said, confusing her for a moment. She soon voiced this.

"For what?"

Asgore answered, "For taking care of our children while they were gone. You must image how worried we were when they went missing in Gaster's Lab…"

"Again…" Toriel commented, frowning and glaring over towards the table with the two Gasters. One of them turned and noticed the glare, before he smiled and nudged the other. He, too, turned around and made eye contact, before quickly smiling apologetically and turning away, knowing exactly why he was receiving Toriel's infamous motherly glare.

Lynsie looked at Toriel and Asgore curiously, "How many times has this happened?" She motioned towards Frisk beside her, "Frisk told us of some of the events, but likely not all of them were told."

Alex answered her, "More times than necessary…" He answered vaguely with a frown.

Toriel sadly nodded, "Yes, Doctor Gaster, as brilliant as he may be, has had many… 'issues', if you will, with his QMA. Far too many times has it malfunctioned."

"And nonetheless," Asgore started, smiling warmly towards her as he laid a paw on Lynsie's shoulder, "Each and every time, they have been in some sort of danger. And they, often times, had no support from those on the other side. From the way it sounds, you can your family had gone above and beyond to help them when they needed it."

Lynsie blushed lightly and nodded, "Well, it wasn't too big of a deal. I'm sure if we were in the same position, you would help us."

Asgore's deep voice rumbled as he chuckled, "That would not be inaccurate, However, nonetheless, thank you Lynsie. Especially with Alex." He said, nodding towards him.

Alex frowned and straightened his posture, looking her in the eyes, "Y-yeah… thanks, Lynsie. And, I'm sorry again, for all the trouble I caused."

She smiled gently, extending a hand towards Alex and around Frisk, rubbing his back lightly, "Hey, it's ok Alex. It's all over now and everything is taken care of."

He smiled lightly back, nodding, "Thanks Lynsie… Even if we aren't really siblings, it almost feels like your mine…"

Frisk smiled before she mock-glared at Alex, "You better not be trying to replace me, Alex."

Alex chuckled, "No one could replace you, Frisk." he said, before pretending to think, "Well, maybe that other Frisk, I suppo- OW!" He exclaimed, rubbing his arm after Frisk punched it, "I was just kidding, Frisk."

Toriel laughed, "Now, now, my children… there's no need to fight."

Lynsie smiled at their little argument. It was quite entertaining, to say the least.

Asgore shook his head, trying to continue the previous conversation, "As I was trying to say, if you or your family ever find yourselves in a situation like this, if you ever need help, feel free to come to us. Our doors are open, both literally and figuratively."

She nodded, "Thank you, your majesty."

He rumbled with laughter, "Please, just call me Asgore, or Mister Dreemurr, if you insist on being formal." He joked with a grin.

* * *

Eventually, the afternoon and early evening spent at Grillby's had to come to a close. After they finished all of their meals and desserts, as well as their conversations, they returned to Gaster's lab, preparing to return to their own world.

Back in the lab, Prince Chara seemed bitter, muttering under his breath that Doggo must have been lying about his sight problems in this world, since he'd properly cleaned Chara out of all of the Gold he'd had on him. Asriel, on the other hand, knew when to give up, and only lost a quarter of what was on him today.

Lynsie, not feeling particularly sorry for Chara's greed and lack of strategy and skill, might have sorta, possibly, maybe laughed a bit at his misfortune, earning another quick threat about spilling particular secrets to their parents when they returned. Unfortunately, he had to add another threat to Asriel, as he, too, laughed at the misfortune. At the end of it, however, they came to a compromise and a mutual understanding. After all, Chara wasn't the only one with blackmail on his siblings.

Before they returned to the lab, however, they said goodbye to the Dreemurrs, as they had to return home. After a grateful, yet saddening hug with Frisk, ending with a promise to visit again someday, and another, less saddening yet just as grateful hug from Alex thanking her for everything, they left. Both Asgore and Toriel smiled, as Toriel, too, gave her a warm, fluffy, motherly hug, thanking her as well.

The little Asriel smiled and fist bumped his alternate, before giving the older, male version of his sister a hug. He continues to deny the fact that he had a smile on his face during the hug, which many witnesses dispute. After all of that, everyone from her timeline returned to the lab, along with Gaster and Sans. The other Papyrus had returned home with Verdana, getting the house ready for the night after being away for so long.

Now, back in the lab once more, the six of them patiently waited at the QMA resynced itself and reconnected to her own timeline. After just a few moments, she could see through the swirling vortex, making out their own version of Gaster's lab on the other side.

The other Sans grinned towards the six of them, _"welp, guess that's that. you all ready?"_

"AS READY AS CAN BE, OTHER-SANS!"

"i think i'm ready."

"✋ ✌💣 ✌👎 ✈🕆✌❄ ✡ 🏱 🏱✌ 👎📬" (I AM ADEQUATELY PREPARED.)

"Yeah, I'm ready to go home."

"Same here, I'm ready."

Lynsie smiled, nodding towards the other version of Sans.

 _"it's been fun. you know, aside from the whole 'universe is about to get destroyed' part."_

 **"YOU MAY ENTER THE VORTEX WHEN READY."** Doctor Gaster informed them, before smiling, **"THANK YOU AGAIN FOR YOUR AID. IT'S BEEN A PLEASURE MEETING YOU ALL. YOU ARE WELCOME BACK HERE ANYTIME. JUST, GIVE US A HEADS UP FIRST. WE WOULDN'T ANOTHER CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY, NOW WOULD WE?"**

"Nope." Chara said, stepping towards the QMA first. He turned around to face them, "I would say it was nice meeting another set of boneheads, but I'd be lying. At least you turned out not to be as bad as these two are with my little sister."

 _"aww, ya hear that, dad? the prince is gonna miss us."_

Chara rolled his eyes, "Bye boneheads!" He then turned around and leaped through the vortex, landing back in his timeline, before stepping out of view.

Asriel chuckled and stepped forward now, "I might as well go after him and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid…" He turned to Gaster and shook his hand, "It's been nice to meet you, even if everything was pretty tense at first."

 **"AND I, YOU, PRINCE ASRIEL. GOOD LUCK."**

Asriel nodded, before turning towards the remaining four, "See you on the other side!" Then he, too, ran through the vortex and stepped out of view, leaving the three skeletons and Lynsie alone in the lab with the other Sans and Gaster.

"and then there were four." Sans remarked, smiling. He reached forward and shook his alternate's hand. This time, however, there was not a whoopee cushion in either of their hands, "it's been swell to meet you, pal. nice to know there's another me out there with equally good jokes."

 _"same. equally talented funny bones."_

"it'll be awfully bonely without another punster around."

 _"it might not be as humerus, but i'm sure you'll manage."_

"you're ok, sans. i don't have a bone to pick with you."

 _"neither do i, my fellow skelepun."_

"AAAHHHHHH, ENOUGH OF THE TOMFOOLERY SANS!"

"no need for skullking, paps. we're almost done."

 _"don't let it get under your skin, bro."_

"i don't think he has the stomach for these jokes."

 _"well that's fine. i'm all out of puns."_

"GOOD. THANK YOU, OTHER-SANS."

 _"yeah. i'm bone dry."_

"and i don't have the guts to keep going."

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!"

 **"ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT, NO NEED TO FURTHER ANTAGONIZE YOUR BROTHER, SANS."** Gaster cut in, causing both of them to pause.

They both then proceeded to laugh at their string of puns, before they then proceeded to complement one another on their pun skills. "hehe, anyway, it's been fun, right paps?"

Papyrus, after taking a few deep breaths, nodded, "OF COURSE." He replied with a large grin, "IT HAS BEEN NICE TO MEET YOU ALL, ESPECIALLY YOUR BEYOND COOL BROTHER, WHO HAS NOW TAUGHT ME HOW TO BE EVEN COOLER WHEN IT COMES TO CREATING MASTERPIECES." He said, thinking quietly about possible designs for future gifts for Lynsie.

" _same to you paps. even though you're not my bro, you're still really cool."_

"REALLY?!" He asked, his eye sockets sparkling, "I MEAN, OF COURSE OTHER-SANS! WHAT KIND OF PAPYRUS WOULD I BE IF I WASN'T COOL?! NYEH HEH HEH!"

Both skeletons turned towards Lynsie, "ready to go, lynsie?"

Lynsie smiled and nodded to the two of them, before stepping forward towards the other version of her Sans and Gaster, "Thank you for this experience, stepping into another timeline like this. It's been really nice."

Gaster smiled and bowed lightly, **"OF COURSE, YOUR MAJESTY. AND THANK YOU FOR ALL OF YOUR HELP AND SUPPORT OVER THE LAST SEVERAL DAYS."**

"You are very welcome, Doctor." She then turned towards Sans, "And Sans, thank you as well. And, sorry for making you uncomfortable back when you first arrived." She said.

He shrugged, _"meh, it's fine, you were just trying to figure out who i was."_

She smiled and nodded, "It's been nice meeting another version of my pun buddy."

He nodded, _"yup. happy to know that i ended up with a pretty punny gal like you."_ He said with a side smile, nodding towards the other Sans, who simply smiled back and gave him a thumbs-up.

She then turned back towards her two skeletons, "I'm ready guys. Let's go home."

Together, they three of them entered the vortex, reentering their own timeline, before they began to make their way back to the castle. After all, it had been a long day, and an even longer week.

Now, all that was left in the lab was Sans and the two Gasters, one of whom had remained fairly silent during the entire exchange. Sans looked at the two curiously as they exchanged goods. His father proceeded to hand over a familiar looking case, which was currently filled with test-tubes filled with samples of Hatred, Fear, Purity, and Creativity. Likewise, he was also receiving detailed blueprints on several pieces of technology, one of which being the Soul Scanner tech.

"✋ 🏱 ❄ 👌 🕆 🏱 ✋ ❄💧 ✌ 🕆 👎 💧❄✌ 👎✌👌 📪 👎 👍❄ 📬" (I HOPE THE BLUEPRINTS ARE UNDERSTANDABLE, DOCTOR.)

He smirked and nodded, **"I'M SURE I'LL MANAGE. AND I, TOO, HOPE THAT THE TRAIT SAMPLES ARE ADIQUITE ENOUGH FOR YOUR TESTING."**

The other Gaster nodded in response, "✋🕯💣 💧🕆 ✋🕯 💣✌ ✌ 📬" (I'M SURE I'LL MANAGE.)

After another moment of verifying that they had been given what the deal said they would receive, the alternate Gaster nodded, stepping towards the QMA. "✋❄🕯💧 👌 ✌ ✌ 🏱 ✌💧🕆 🕈 😐✋ 🕈✋❄ ✡ 🕆📪 👎 👍❄ ✌💧❄ 📬 ✋❄ ✌💧 👌 ✌ ❄ 💧✋ 👍 ✋🕯👎 🕈 😐 👎 🕈✋❄ ✌ ✋ ❄ 👍❄🕆✌ ✈🕆✌ ✋ ❄ ✌👌📬 ✋ 😐 🕈✌ 👎 ❄ ✌ ✡ 🕆❄🕆 👍 🏱 ✌❄✋ 📪 ✌ 👎 ✋ ❄ ✌ 😐 ✡ 🕆 ✡ 🕆 💧🏱✋❄✌ ✋❄✡📬" (IT'S BEEN A REAL PLEASURE WORKING WITH YOU, DOCTOR GASTER. IT HAS BEEN FAR TOO LONG SINCE I'D WORKED WITH AN INTELLECTUAL EQUAL IN THE LAB. I LOOK FORWARD TO ANY FUTURE COOPERATION, AND I THANK YOU FOR YOUR HOSPITALITY.)

 **"AND THE SAME GOES FOR YOU, DOCTOR GASTER. THANK YOU, TOO, FOR THE AID IN RETURNING HOME AND I, TOO, LOOK FORWARD TO ANY FUTURE COOPERATION."**

And with that, with the case in hand, Doctor Gaster stepped through the QMA vortex, reentering his timeline. Shortly thereafter, Gaster and Sans shut off the device from their end, severing the connection and ending the journey they had accidently started upon several days earlier.

Sans turned towards Gaster, _"so… you up for dinner, dad?"_

Gaster chuckled, **"YES SANS, I THINK I AM UP FOR DINNER."** He said, smiling, looking forward to sitting down at the table in their house, enjoying one of Papyrus' non-pasta related home-cooked dinners with his family.

 **"LET'S GO HOME."**

* * *

A/N:

This was put up a few days later than I first wished, but a combination of laziness, and then weather issues, had caused this short delay. Hope you all enjoyed this story! The Epilogue will be up within a day or two(hopefully). Thanks again!

-swrWriter


	19. Epilogue- A Profitable Partnership

**Remember: Spoilers for Undertale, my story, and R.I.P Lynn's are contained within this story. **

**If you'd rather not be spoiled in any of those three ways, please stop now and go read the other stories or play the game. (It's worth it!)**

 **If you need another reminder/overview of either of our stories, please go back to chapter one or two to check them out.**

 **Thanks again to R.I.P. Lynn for making this possible.**

 **Now, time to check on everyone!**

* * *

 **Epilogue:** A Profitable Partnership

Doctor Alphys finished shutting down her personal console on her desk as she closed and locked her office room door.

After doing so, she maneuvered her way through the mostly dark lab, with all but one other office and the main lab still lit with the overhead lights. Knowing her superior's office was likely vacant, she made her way towards the main lab, through the hallway. Soon arriving, she entered the lab to find it mostly vacant; only one living creature remained within: Doctor Gaster.

He was typing some sort of report, or paper, or something at his personal computer as the QMA remained online yet unconnected to any specific timeline. The special device held a multicolored vortex in the center, which blurred together countless colors, shifting between different dominating colors as it continued running. That was what Gaster was likely working on, studying new timelines now that the doorway has been opened.

She took a few steps into the lab, clearing her throat to gain Gaster's attention as her reptilian eyes darted towards the clock on the wall. Just like the one on her console before she shut it down, the wall clock confirmed how late it really was. It was after eight in the evening.

Doctor Gaster turned around, tearing his gaze from the screen as he faced his assistant. He did not speak, prompting her to elaborate on why she'd interrupted him. "S-sorry Doctor Gaster. I w-was just letting you know that I'm going home." She informed him, motioning with her left hand to the clock on the wall.

After a quick moment, everything clicked with Gaster as he nodded, smiling, "✡ 💧📪 ✋ 💧🕆🏱🏱 💧 ✋ 💧❄ ❄ ✌👍😐 ❄✋💣 📬 👎 ✋ ❄ 👎 👍❄ ✌ 🏱 ✡💧📬 ✋🕯 💧 ✡ 🕆 💣 👎✌✡📬" (YES, I SUPPOSE I LOST TRACK OF TIME. GOOD NIGHT DOCTOR ALPHYS. I'LL SEE YOU ON MONDAY.)

Alphys smiled warmly at her superior, before nodding, turning around, and exiting the main lab. She made her way down the hall and through the Soul Scanner on her way out, logging herself out of the system as she returned home for the evening. Ever since that incident with the other timeline about a week and a half ago, he's been focusing large portions of his free lab time towards studying the Multiverse and whatever he'd received from the other version of himself.

The kind doctor shook her head and smiled, looking up at the beautiful night sky as she took a deep breath of fresh air. Now wasn't the time to be thinking of work. Now was the time to be thinking of the rest of her evening. She couldn't wait to get home.

After all, she and Undyne were planning an Anime Marathon tonight, and she wouldn't miss it for the world.

* * *

[Undertale OST – sans.]

Lynsie sat patiently on the barstool, watching Grillby absentmindedly as he cleaned yet another glass. The ambient lighting and idle chatter around her made the famous restaurant come to life in the early hours of the night. The stool beside her, normally reserved for her pun buddy, now sat empty, looking quite sad without its usual patron.

She was wearing a pretty casual outfit this evening, forgoing any dresses or skirts, and settling on a usual favorite combination. She wore her purple shirt with the delta rune on the front, with a pair of not-too-ripped jeans, allowing maximum comfort.

Before her, on the bar, was her usual order at Grillby's, mostly finished now save for the glass of milk she was in the mood for. Behind her, at the largest table in the pub, sat the bunch of dog Monsters, all enjoying yet another fun game of Poker together. Hehe, Poker…

That brought back the memory of Chara losing his entire wallet-full of Gold to the Dog Monsters of the other timeline. It was, and still is, quite humorous. It was pretty obvious that it would be the case that they were good. After all, they were quite skilled at poker and played it often enough here in this timeline, so it would only be logical that he'd not do well. And, that's despite the fact that Chara has a pretty poor poker face. Scary face? Yes. Creepy face? Yes. Angry face? Yes. But Poke Face? Not a chance.

Regardless of the Poker, though, she continued to sit alone, listening to the music that often appeared magically when she was in Grillby's. It was pretty simple, catchy, and reminded her of Sans. After another moment of silence, Grillby put down his glass and reached into his pocket, pulling out his phone. A few moments later…

 **Ding**

Lynsie reached into her own pocket, pulling out her own phone, a new message appearing on screen. It was, without doubt, from Grillby. She quickly unlocked her phone to view the message.

 _[You're awfully quite tonight.]_

She smiled, looking up at Grillby, who was looking back at her, "I'm fine Grillby, thanks." He raised a flaming eyebrow at her, silently asking her why she was here. She could easily read his expressions now, and it wasn't too hard to tell what he was wondering in this case. "Just waiting for a friend."

Now he looked even more curious, especially at the lack of information about said friend. Soon enough, she received another message.

 _[A friend? Are Sans and Papyrus going to be jealous of this 'friend'?]_

At that, she began to laugh, shaking her head as she calmed herself down, "It's nothing like that, Grillby, and it's someone you don't know."

He nodded at that, still curious as to what she was doing here. He sent one more message before turning his attention back to the glass he was cleaning.

 _[I'll be here if you need me, Lynsie.]_

She smiled gently, deciding to tease him a little, "Thanks, hot stuff. I appreciate it." A bit of blue snuck into his orange and yellow flames as he focused even more intently on cleaning the glass. She turned her attention to the side, looking around the place once more to see how everyone was doing. The dogs were still playing poker, the usual patrons were still drinking, laughing, and conversing, and Grillby continued cleaning, his blush having now faded into memory.

As she sat there in silence, it was only a few moments later that someone new announced their arrival.

"Is this seat taken, Princess?" The man asked her.

She smiled and shook her head, "Not at all, Mister Sower."

Jordan chuckled, taking a seat beside her in Sans' usual seat, "Please, call me Jordan, Mister may sound cool sometimes, but otherwise it makes me feel old."

"Then I insist that you call me Lynsie, Jordan. Princess may sound cool sometimes, but otherwise it makes me feel almost untouchable and overly regal." She responded back in a similar manner, making both of their smiles grow until they both laughed.

Grillby silently slid back into place, eyeing the newcomer curiously. Just as Lynsie had said, he'd never seen this man before in his life, and that's saying something, considering he'd met two lifetimes worth of people. He stood there silently for a moment, placing the glass down.

Getting the hint, Jordan turned his attention towards Grillby, before looking down at the provided menu for a few seconds. He quickly responded, "I'll just have an order of fries and… got any decaf coffee?"

Grillby nodded, before turning around to prepare Jordan's order of food. Lynsie shook her head, "Coffee? Really? At this hour?"

He shrugged in a manner not-too-different from Sans', "Hey, there's nothing wrong with a bit of liquid gold. And I DID order decaf, otherwise I wouldn't get any sleep tonight."

She shrugged back, "I guess, but still, coffee?"

"What can I say, it's a favorite of mine."

She shook her head as she reached for her own glass of milk, taking a sip of it before putting it back down. She could see the look in Jordan's eyes as he asked a silent question, "Listen here, teacher. If you can drink coffee at any hour, then I can drink milk at any hour. Plus, I'm royalty, I'm entitled to a few intricacies."

He held up his hands in surrender, "I wasn't going to say anything. Gotta keep your bones nice and strong for your boys, right?" He asked teasingly.

"Got it in one." She responded simply with a smile.

"Speaking of the boys, where are they? I would have thought they would have accompanied you here this evening?"

"I wanted a bit of time out alone tonight. Plus they might get a little jealous."

Jordan laughed aloud, "Jealous? Of me? I'm not going to try to take you away or anything."

"You should have seen them with Mettaton. Oh boy, were those some fun days…"

"Oh, I think I can understand that scenario. After all, it sounds like both of our Mettatons are quite similar."

"I don't disagree with you there. But yeah, just us two tonight. And, well, I guess Grillby and the rest of the bar as well, but that's besides the point."

"Yes." Jordan answered simply, as Grillby returned, placing his order on the bar in front of him, the hot steaming fries smelling absolutely mouth-watering. Jordan smiled genuinely at the famous fries as his mug of steaming black decaffeinated liquid gold was placed down next, with a bit of half-and-half and sugar placed nearby for him.

As he reached for the sugar and half-and-half, he grinned and nodded toward Grillby, "Thanks Grillby."

Grillby nodded, taking a few steps to the side to wait for any other orders. Far enough away to not be considered eavesdropping or in their space, but close enough to help if something were to happen.

Jordan took a sip of his coffee and had a few fries, before turning back to Lynsie, "So, I figured since we didn't have much time to talk earlier, that we'd meet up and perhaps talk now. After all, it seems you wished to say a few things, but refrained from doing so… so ask away."

Lynsie lightly nodded, thinking for a moment, "Your timeline… who's the Anomaly?"

"You may have to be a bit more specific, Lynn." He replied, before eating another fry.

"Here, it's quite obvious that I'm the Anomaly. I took Frisk's place in the timeline, and my influence changed everything." She explained, to which Jordan nodded, "In your timeline, it's less cut-and-dry. At some points, it sounds like Alex is the Anomaly, since he changed the timeline by falling into the Underground after Frisk. Yet at other points, it seems like that title would belong to you."

Jordan finished a few more fries before he took a sip of his coffee. He exhaled happily before answering, "We both are, but in different ways." He answered simply, to which Lynsie silently told him to continue, "If we use you as the definition of the Anomaly, then in comparison, I would be equivalent to you in the Anomaly State, and Alex would be equivalent to you elsewhere, where you changed things by your actions and presence, rather than raw power."

"I see. I'd also like to understand how you're here." She responded, motioning towards his chest, "Didn't you say your Soul isn't meant to leave the timeline?"

To this question, Jordan summoned his Soul forwards, letting off a soft, green glow as it was currently a solid green color. He stared at it for a moment, before looking back up at him, silently asking him what happened, "Ahh, you see, Creativity can only effect a single timeline… its own. So yeah, in the Void, where my Creative Soul was being forced through to another timeline, it was killing me. But, I discovered I can, in fact, enter another timeline. I just need to be cautious, for I lose all of my power while I'm outside of my own."

"I guess that makes sense, but nothing like that happened to me when I left my timeline and entered yours."

"Your Soul is unique, Lynsie. It works far differently than my own. Where mine can do a lot more specific things, in some cases, yours is more powerful, and not restricted to one timeline like mine is."

"That's pretty interesting."

Jordan nodded, taking a final sip of his coffee, before placing the provided mug down beside his empty plate. They might not have noticed it, but they'd spent well over an hour simply conversing with one another, easily losing track of time. He smiled and nodded towards Grillby, who walked over and took care of the plate and mug. "Thanks, Grillby." He then placed several Gold down onto the bar, leaving a rather generous tip as well, "The food was fantastic Grillby, thank you!" Grillby nodded gratefully and took the money as well, disappearing for another few moments.

Jordan then stood up, smiling at Lynsie, "It's been nice seeing you again, Lynsie, and under much better circumstances, this time…" Lynsie, too, stood up, smiling back. She extended her hand towards him, which he excepted, shaking hands with the princess.

"And it's been nice to meet you and talk as well, Jordan."

He motioned with his head and walked towards the exit, stepping outside and leaving her at the bar for a moment. Grillby came back out and noticed that he was gone and that she was now standing up. He raised an eyebrow at her, but Lynsie just smiled back, "See you later Grillby. Just put it on Sans' tab."

Grillby seemed to laugh at that, shaking his head as he took care of her empty glass of milk. With that taken care of, Lynsie stepped outside to meet up with Jordan, who was just leaning against the wall, looking up at the clear, night sky.

"It's a beautiful night, tonight, isn't it?" He asked quietly.

She nodded, "Yes, with a lot less light pollution it's a very beautiful sight on clear evenings like tonight."

"Indeed." He said, leaving the two of the standing in silence for a few moments. He then turned towards Lynsie, "It's been a pleasure, Lynsie, but I think it's time we both return home."

She sighed, nodding, "I understand. Thanks for coming to talk."

"No problem." He took a few steps towards the direction of Gaster's lab, "And Lynsie…" he turned back, "Keep an eye on old Gaster for us. He's quite ambitious, as is ours…" He ended, leaving the suggestion open-ended.

She smirked, "Of course, I've worked hard for this ending. There's no way I'm gonna let anything take this away."

"Atta girl." Jordan replied with a smirk of his own. "Send Sans and Papyrus my regards."

And with that, Jordan walked down the sidewalk, heading towards the lab. Lynsie watched as he got further and further away from her, before losing track of him entirely. After spending another moment or two in the cool, summer air, Lynsie turned in the opposite direction, staring towards her home up on the nearby mountain.

"Let's see, how do I shortcut again…?" She quietly mused to herself, focusing on the magic coursing through her Soul. "Ahh, there we go. Let's see, and a one, and a two, and a three!"

And with that, Lynsie vanished.

* * *

"✋ ❄ 💧❄✋ 📬📬📬 ✋❄ 💧 💣💧 ❄ ✌❄ ✋💧 ✡🏱 ❄ 💧✋💧 🕈✌💧 👍 👍❄📬📬📬" (INTERESTING... IT SEEMS THAT HIS HYPOTHESIS WAS CORRECT...)

Doctor Gaster spoke aloud to himself absentmindedly as he studied the results on his console. Or, rather, to himself AND himself.

 **"HAVE I EVER BEEN WRONG?"**

Doctor Gaster chuckled as he turned around to face his alternate, who was also still wearing his lab coat. Every day now, after Alphys left the lab in the evening, he'd use the QMA to travel to the other timeline. The PureTale timeline, as it is referred to. Together, with his alternate, they'd conduct research into Souls and Soul Traits. Alone, they'd both spent large portions of time, energy, and resources into studying Determination and the unique trait to their timeline. In his case, Lynsie's Soul. In his alternate's Purity.

However, after Gaster got a good look at the trait samples he'd been given during their exchange, he had come up with a temporary proposal to work together on a project involving Soul Traits. After all, they were both quite interested in the subject. Together, in fact, they'd gotten more work done into the field of Souls in the last week than either had accomplished alone during either of their lifetimes.

"🕈 ✍ ✡ 💧📬" (WRONG? YES.) He said with a smirk, motioning over towards the data, "✋❄🕯💧 ✌👍❄🕆✌ ✡ ✈🕆✋❄ ✋ ❄ 💧❄✋ 📬 🏱🕆 ✋❄✡ ✌ 👎 ✌❄ 👎📪 👎 💧🏱✋❄ ❄ ✋ 👎✋ 👍 💧 ✌ 👎 🕆 ✋✈🕆 💧💧📪 ✌ ✈🕆✋❄ 💧✋💣✋ ✌ ❄ ✌ ❄ ❄ ✋ 💣✌ ✋👍✌ 🏱 🕈 ✞ 📬 ✡ ❄ ❄ ✋ ✈🕆 👍✋ 💧 👍 🕆 👎 🕯❄ 👌 🕆 ❄ ✌🏱✌ ❄📬" (IT'S ACTUALLY QUITE INTERESTING. PURITY AND HATRED, DESPITE THEIR DIFFERENCES AND UNIQUENESS, ARE QUITE SIMILAR TO ONE ANOTHER ON THEIR MAGICAL POWER LEVEL. YET THEIR FREQUENCIES COULDN'T BE FURTHER APART.)

His alternate went quiet for a moment, taking in this information as he got a closer look at the specific data points gathered and collected. After a moment, a smile broke on his face, **"DOCTOR… I THINK WE JUST MADE A BREAKTHROUGH."**

" 🕈 💧 ✍ ✋ 🕆 👎 💧❄✌ 👎 💧 💣 ❄ ✋💣🏱 ✋👍✌❄✋ 💧📪 👌🕆❄ ❄ ✋💧 😐 🕈 👎 ✌ ✋💧 🕯❄ 💣🕆👍 📬 ❄ ✌ ✡📬" (HOW SO? I UNDERSTAND SOME OF THE IMPLICATIONS, BUT THIS KNOWLEDGE ALONE ISN'T MUCH. NOT REALLY.)

The other Gaster nodded, walking over to the console and pulling up another two data sets that he had previously recorded. He pointed to the set on the left, **"OBSERVE, THE READINGS WE HAD RECORDED ON BRAVERY."** Then, to the one on the right, **"AND HERE, WE HAVE THE READINGS FOR FEAR."** He typed in a few commands, compacting the data of the two graphs into a display similar to the one generated for the Purity-Hatred graph. **"NOW, DOCTOR, WHAT DO YOU SEE WHEN YOU COMPARE THE TWO?"**

He did as he was asked, looking over and comparing the two charts before he breathed out a breath in astonishment, " 🕆💧❄ ✋😐 🕈✋❄ ✌❄ 👎 ✌ 👎 🏱🕆 ✋❄✡📪 👌 ❄ ✌ ✌ 👎 👌 ✌✞ ✡ ✌✞ ✌ 📫✋👎 ❄✋👍✌ 🏱 🕈 ✞ 💧📪 ✡ ❄ 💣✌💧💧✋✞ ✡ 👎✋ ❄ 💣✌ ✋👍✌ ✈🕆 👍✋ 💧📬📬📬" (JUST LIKE WITH HATRED AND PURITY, BOTH FEAR AND BRAVERY HAVE NEAR-IDENTICAL POWER LEVELS, YET MASSIVELY DIFFERENT MAGICAL FREQUENCIES...)

He paused for a moment before realization dawned on him, while his alternate's smile grew. "🕈✌✋❄📪 ❄ 👎✋ ❄📬📬📬 ✋ ✞ ❄ 👎✏ ❄ 💣✌ ✋👍✌ ✈🕆 👍✋ 💧 ✌ ✋ ✞ ❄ 👎 ✋ 👌 ❄ 👍✌💧 💧✏" (WAIT, NOT DIFFERENT... INVERTED! THE MAGICAL FREQUENCIES ARE INVERTED IN BOTH CASES!)

The alternate Gaster smiled and nodded, **"PRECISELY. AND IN THE CASE OF FEAR AND BRAVERY, THEY ARE OPPOSITES. NO OTHER DISCOVERED PAIR OF SOUL TRAITS, NO MATTER THE COMBINATION, HAVE READINGS LIKE THIS. THAT IS, EXCEPT FOR PURITY AND HATRED."**

"❄ 📪 ❄ ✡📪 ❄ 📪 ✌ 🏱🏱 💧✋❄ ❄ ✌✋❄💧📬 ❄ ✌❄ 🕈✌💧 🕈 ✡ ✌ ✠ 💧 ✌💧✋ ✡ ❄ ✌❄ 👎📬 ✋💧 💧 🕆 🕈✌💧 💧✋💣✋ ✌ 🕆 ❄ 👌 ✌❄ ✋💧😐📬" (THEREFORE, THEY, TOO, ARE OPPOSITE TRAITS. THAT WAS WHY ALEX FELL SO EASILY TO HATRED. HIS SOUL WAS SIMILAR ENOUGH TO BE AT RISK.) Gaster continued.

 **"YES, BUT THERE'S EVEN MORE. THIS PROVES AN EARLIER HYPOTHESIS THAT I HAD FORGED. YOU SEE, IT WAS REASONED THAT FEAR AND BRAVERY WAS A UNIQUE CIRCUMSTANCE. HOWEVER, WITH THIS, WE'VE PROVEN THAT NOT ONLY ARE THERE MORE 'INVERSE TRAITS', BUT THAT THERE ARE THOSE THAT WE HAVE NOT YET DISCOVERED."**

"🕯✋ ✞ 💧 ❄ ✌✋❄💧🕯 💣💣✍ ✋ ❄ 💧❄✋ 📪 ✞ ✡ ✞ ✡ ✋ ❄ 💧❄✋ 📬" ('INVERSE TRAITS' HMM? INTERESTING, VERY VERY INTERESTING.) Gaster said, remaining silent for a moment as he scanned back over the data. After a moment, he hit the jackpot.

Gaster smirked to his alternate, pointing towards a few data points, " 😐 ✌ 👎 📬 💧 ❄ 💧 ✍ ❄ 💧 🕈 🏱 ✋ ❄💧 💣✌✋ ✌❄✋✞ ✡ 👍 💧❄✌ ❄ 👌 ❄🕈 ✋ ✞ 💧 💧📬 🕈 ✞ 📪 ❄ 💧 ❄ 🏱 ✋ ❄💧 ✞ 👎 🕯❄📬 🏱 ✌🏱💧📪 🕈✋❄ 🕆 💣✌ ✋👍📪 🕈 👍 🕆 👎 👍 ❄ ✌✋❄💧 ❄ ✋ ✞ 💧 ❄ 💣💧 ✞ 💧📪 💣🕆👍 ✋😐 ❄ 🕆💧 ✌ 🏱✌ ❄✋👍 ✠👍 ✌❄ ❄ 👍 ✌❄ ✌ 👎 👎✋💧👍 ✞ 🕈 💣 ❄💧📬" (LOOK HERE AND HERE. SEE THESE? THESE FEW POINTS REMAIN RELATIVELY CONSTANT BETWEEN INVERSES. HOWEVER, THESE OTHER POINTS OVER HER DON'T. PERHAPS, WITH ENOUGH MAGIC, WE COULD FORCE TRAITS TO INVERSE THEMSELVES, MUCH LIKE THE USE OF A PARTICLE EXCELLERATOR TO CREATE AND DISCOVER NEW ELEMENTS.)

 **"YOU'RE A GENIUS, DOCTOR. IMAGINE THE POSSIBILITIES, THE ADVANCES THAT COULD BE MADE WITH MORE SOUL TRAITS."**

"✋ 👎 👎📬 ✌ ❄ 🕆 ❄ ✡ 👍 🕆 👎 👌 👎✌ 🕆💧📪 ❄ ✋💣🏱 ✋👍✌❄✋ 💧 ✌ 👎 ✌🏱🏱 ✋👍✌❄✋ 💧 ✌ 🏱 ✋👍 💧💧📬 🕈 💧 🕆 👎 🕈 💧❄✌ ❄✍" (INDEED. ALTHOUGH THEY COULD BE DANGEROUS, THE IMPLICATIONS AND APPLICATIONS ARE PRICELESS. WHERE SHOULD WE START?)

 **Clap, Clap, Clap.**

Suddenly, their conversation was interrupted by the sound of clapping hands echoing throughout the main laboratory, originating from a few feet behind the two of them. On instinct, the two of them summoned forth their Gaster Blasters as they turned around in the blink of an eye, preparing to vaporize whatever enemy was standing behind them.

However, the individual seemed unimpressed by their display. They stood there, staring at the two of them with black, void filled eyes, which were narrowed at the two of them. Their black hair sat upon their pale white skin and they wore monochromatic stripped clothes, just as they, too, were monochromatic. The being's mouth was drawn down into a frown, yet they clapped an additional two times after making eye contact with them.

Gaster's alternate smiled, dispersing his blasters, **"AHH, CORE FRISK. TO WHAT DO WE OWE THIS HONOR?"** Hearing the use of the name, Gaster lowered his own blasters, yet continued to eye Core Frisk suspiciously.

After the clapping stopped, Core Frisk crossed his arms, continuing to frown at the two of them, yet seemed to be less hostile toward the RenewTale Gaster when compared to the relationship with the other one. Finally, after a moment, they spoke.

"I'm shocked, Doctor." They started sarcastically, "It's been less than two weeks since you nearly destroyed your timelines, and you've already returned to bad decision making."

The Gaster in question narrowed his eye sockets at Core Frisk, **"SO THAT'S WHAT YOU'RE HERE FOR? AFTER SWEARING THAT YOU WOULD NEVER GET INVOLVED WITH HIS TIMELINE OUT OF FEAR OF LYNSIE'S POWER, YOU SHOW UP BECAUSE OF MY RESEARCH?"**

Gaster tried to play peacemaker, "🕈 ✌📪 🕈 ✌ ❄ 📬 ✋🕯💣 💧🕆 ❄ ✋💧 ✋💧 ✌ 👌✋ 💣✋💧🕆 👎 💧❄✌ 👎✋ 📬 🕈 ✌❄ 💧 💣💧 ❄ 👌 ❄ 🏱 👌 💣📪 👍 ✋💧😐✍" (WHOA, WHOA THERE. I'M SURE THIS IS A BIG MISUNDERSTANDING. WHAT SEEMS TO BE THE PROBLEM, CORE FRISK?)

Core Frisk turned their attention towards him now, "Frisk." They said simply, "I'd prefer if you just called me Frisk." They said, before returning to the task at hand, "And I'm here, because you idiots are crossing into dangerous territory."

 **"STUDYING SOUL TRAITS?"**

"No, actively seeking out Inverse Traits!" Core Frisk answered, "You've seen the destructive power of Fear and of Hatred. You really want to find more of them?"

 **"DESTRUCTIVE? YES. BUT,"**

"But nothing!" They cut him off, "You've already put yourselves in danger by opening your timelines up to the multiverse, but this is another whole matter entirely."

That's when Gaster responded, "✡ 💧📪 ✋💧😐📪 👌🕆❄ ❄ ❄✋💣 ✋ 💧 ✌ 👎✌ 🕆💧📬 ✌ ✡ 🕆 💧❄ ✡ ✋ ❄ ❄ 🕆💧 ❄ ✌❄ ❄ ✋💧 🕯❄ ✌ 💧✋ ❄✋💣 ✋ 🕆❄ ❄ ❄ ✌❄ 👎 💧 🕯❄ ✌✞ ✌ ✡ ❄ 💧 ✋ ✞ 💧 ❄ ✌✋❄💧 🕈 🕯 😐✋ ✍" (YES, FRISK, THE TIMELINES ARE DANGEROUS. ARE YOU HONESTLY GOING TO TELL US THAT THERE ISN'T A SINGLE TIMELINE OUT THERE THAT DOESN'T HAVE ANY OF THESE INVERSE TRAITS WE'RE LOOKING FOR?)

Core Frisk hesitated for a moment, "Well, yes, there are other timelines out there that have these, but it's under control. They will never be of any threat toward any of you."

 **"REALLY? JUST AS ERROR AND BETTY WERE NEVER A THREAT!"**

"That's different and you know it!"

 **"YES, BECAUSE WE KNEW HOW TO COUNTER THEM! WE HAD INTEL WHICH TOLD US HOW TO DEFEAT THEM!"** His alternate responded, pausing for a moment, giving Gaster a chance to continue.

And he did, continuing where his doppelganger left off. "🕈✋❄ 🕆❄ 😐 🕈 👎 📪 🕈 🕯 ✋ ✌ ❄📪 ❄ 💧✌ 📬 ❄ 🏱🕆 💧🕆✋❄ 😐 🕈 👎 ✋💧 ❄ ✡ 🕈✌✡ ❄ ❄ 🕆 ✡ 🏱 🏱✌ ✌ 👎 💣✌😐 🕆 💧 ✞ 💧 🏱 🏱✌ 👎📪 ✞ ✋ ✋❄ ✞ ✌🏱🏱 💧📬" (WITHOUT KNOWLEDGE, WE'RE IGNORANT, NOT SAFE. THE PURSUIT OF KNOWLEDGE IS THE ONLY WAY TO TRULY PREPARE AND MAKE OURSELVES PREPARED, EVEN IF IT NEVER HAPPENS.)

"I…" Core Frisk began, before pausing to consider this. Finally, they continued, "I understand your worry, but the danger is too high. Betty could not be contained, and Fear and Hatred, themselves, aren't easily contained." They reasoned, "I'm just trying to stop this before it gets too far." He admitted, their frown becoming more sad than angry, "I'm trying to save you…"

The alternate Gaster took a deep breath to calm himself. **"FRISK…"** He said, gaining his attention, **"I UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU'RE TRYING TO DO. WE'RE TRYING TO SAVE OTHERS AS WELL. WITH THIS KNOWLEDGE THAT WE'RE SEEKING, WE COULD SAVE LIVES AND MAKE GREAT LEAPS IN TECHNOLOGY. GIVE US A CHANCE, PLEASE?"**

Core Frisk took a deep breath, before they wiped away a small tear and smiled, nodding, "I… I think I can give you guys a chance. I'm sorry, it's just… I'm trying to help…"

Gaster smiled at the young, alternate version of Frisk. From what he remembers, this version of Frisk shared a fate similar to his own, except they were cast into the Core and the Void, rather than falling into it. And, with Frisk's unique powers and circumstances, they'd been scattered through time and space on such a level that they're nearly omnipresent. It's… it's honestly quite a sad fate.

"❄ ✌ 😐 ✡ 🕆📪 ✋💧😐📬 🕈 🕯 👌 👍✌ 🕆 🕈✋❄ 🕆 🕈 😐📪 ✌ 👎 ✋ ✋❄ 😐💧 ✋😐 ✋❄ 🕈✋ ❄ 🕆❄ ✌ 👎📪 ✡ 🕆 👍 🕆 👎 ✌ 🕈✌✡💧 ❄ ✡ ❄ 🕈✌ 🕆💧📬" (THANK YOU, FRISK. WE'LL BE CAREFUL WITH OUR WORK, AND IF IT LOOKS LIKE IT WILL GET OUT OF HAND, YOU COULD ALWAYS TRY TO WARN US.)

"I… alright." They said, nodding as he looked to Gaster, "You know, I was always afraid of this world and yours... With Lynsie's power and your… ambition, but it's reassuring to see that both of you are not unreasonable." They paused, looking at the other Gaster, "And you've become more reasonable over time, I suppose…"

And after that, Core Frisk vanished, leaving the two of them alone in the lab.

With the lab filled with silence for a few moments, one of them finally broke the silence. **"DOCTOR… TO ANSWER YOUR PREVIOUS QUESTION, WHY DON'T WE START WITH THE TRAIT WE ALREADY KNOW MOST ABOUT."**

Doctor Gaster smiled and nodded, reaching over to his collection of vials. He grabbed a clear, glass vial, containing a warm, lightly glowing crimson liquid. "👎 ❄ 💣✋ ✌❄✋ 📬 🕈 ✌❄ 🕈 🕆 👎 ❄ ✋ ✞ 💧 👎 ❄ 💣✋ ✌❄✋ 👌 ✍" (DETERMINATION. WHAT WOULD THE INVERSE OF DETERMINATION BE?)

 **"HOPELESSNESS? WEAKNESS? DOUBT?"**

" ✌ 👎 💧💧📪 ❄ 🕆💧 👌 ✋ 📬📬📬 ✌👍❄✋✞✌❄ 👍 ❄✌✋ 💣 ❄ 💧 ✋ 👎💧 ✌ ❄ 🕆 ✌ 👎 🏱 🏱✌ ❄ ❄ ✌✋❄ 💧✡ ❄ 💧✋ 📬" (REGARDLESS, LET US BEGIN... I'LL ACTIVATE CONTAINMENT SHIELDS A THROUGH F AND PREPARE THE TRAIT SYNTHESIZER.)

He nodded, doing as his alternate asked, preparing the lab for their first experiment. Gaster smirked to himself as he grew excited at this experiment. For the first time in a long while, he was running an experiment that could radically change the face of the world; all of Monsterkind and Humankind.

While he did that, he heard the skeleton doctor tap a few commands onto his console, bringing up the specific program he needed. It had been a very long time since he had used this program, and just as long a time since he'd studied Determination. He leaned forward and spoke aloud.

 **"ENTRY NUMBER 22…"**

"👎✌ 😐📪 👎✌ 😐 📪 ✡ ❄ 👎✌ 😐 ✍" (DARK, DARKER, YET DARKER?)

 **"NOT TODAY, DOCTOR. NOT TODAY..."**

* * *

 **A/N: And so, this journey has finally come to a close for everyone.**

The PureTale Cast has returned home, safe and sound. Alex is talking with everyone, telling them of his fears and nightmares, on the path to recovery after all that he's endured with his version of PTSD thanks to all of his experiences. The RenewTale Cast has endured their first encounter with an alternate timeline and universe with little-to-no casualties. (RIP MTT Hotel Room). Together, they all prevented a timeline collapse and their ultimate destruction, and have even agreed to possibly work together if they ever need help in the future.

All-in-all, everything seems to have worked out for the most part. Sure, there are people asking questions in Lynsie's timeline, but there's no chaos. Sure, Alex is scarred, but he's coming around. Both Gasters have aided one another with their own, unique technological advances, and the future seems bright for both parties.

But… Core Frisk's worries aren't exactly unwarranted. After all, neither Gaster is innocent. Both have made many mistakes that have led to suffering in some way or another. But, the question remains… what happens next?

Well, the PureTale Saga, as I see it, is finished. At least, for the foreseeable future. Maybe there'll be more crossovers at some point or another, but the main saga is probably done. Everything is settled. There were some points that, looking back, I'm not particularly proud of and would change completely if done over, but it's all done and over with now.

As for RenewTale. That's R.I.P. Lynn's story, for which I'm grateful for having the opportunity to write about the characters, and bring them back to life for another adventure, as "Undertale: File Name not Found" belongs to her and is probably my favorite Undertale FanFiction out there. Thanks R.I.P. Lynn for this opportunity, and I hope you enjoyed this extra story with your characters!

For the immediate future, I will be MIA for the next month or so, so responding to any messages or reviews or anything might be spotty at best. Regardless, let me know what you think. I hope this story was written well enough to enjoy, even if it felt almost sub-par at some points, and I thank you for reading!

Welp, I guess this is the end. Thanks everyone for reading, reviewing, favoriting, and following. Please, let me know what you thought of it, grammer issues and all, I guess.

Thank you!

-swrWriter (Jordan)


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